Advisory Opinion on Operability (AOO)

(1) Purpose of AOO

AOO is a service that aims to check the qualitative content of prior patents likely to affect a variety of issues related to products, project and research and development handled by enterprises, and provide guidelines for avoiding risks associated with intellectual property (IP) related disputes in advance. The AOO is prepared by a team of one attorney-at-law and one patent attorney, who are registered panelistsl.

It is not easy to detect risks involving IP disputes that might affect businesses when, for example, they plan to enter a market for the first time. OurAOO is a new, unprecedented type of service that not only analyzes the trends of IP dispute risks, such as an analysis of patent maps, but also attempts to provide the results of a more objective analysis and evaluation of these risks through the collaboration of one attorney-at-law and one patent attorney who are specialists in IP disputes.

(2) Outline of AOO

The AOO is an advisory service that is (1) provided to businesses of all sizes, including manufacturers, financial institutions, LLPs, LLCs, industry-university alliances, etc.

(2) The AOO reports on whether or not there is any prior patents (patents, patent applications, etc. that may be infringed upon or conflict with R&D themes, projects, etc.) likely to affect the applicant's R&D themes, projects, etc. at the stage of R&D, trial manufacture, product planning, mass-production readiness, etc.

(3) The AOO is based on a qualitative evaluation made jointly by one attorney-at-law and one patent attorney, who are pre-registered panelistsregistered.

The conclusion of the AOO is reported by sending in writing to the applicant (party requesting the AOO).
The AOO is an opinion of the panelists, who are experts appointed by the Center, and has no legally binding force on any party. No appeals (including lawsuits) may be filed against the AOO.

An applicant may request a prior consultation before submitting an application for an AOO.
The procedures are explained in the process flow chart.

1. AOO Phase 1

For a business project presented by an enterprise, on AOO Phase 1 determines, based on the investigation results of outside research organizations, whether or not there exists any prior invention or device by a third party likely to affect the project. (Only inventions or devices for which an application for a patent or utility model was filed in Japan. Hereinafter referred to as a "third-party invention.") This is a service for determining whether or not there exists any prior patented invention with which the applicant's project may conflict.

2. AOO Phase 2

The AOO Phase 2 determines whether or not there exists any prior third-party invention likely to affect the applicant's project, based on the results of the AOO Phase 1 or equivalent data provided by the applicant. While the AOO Phase 1 is a service for determining the possibility of conflict, AOO Phase 2 is a service for indicating the reasons for concluding that a third-party's prior invention may affect the project (e.g., "The problem is common to the applicant's project and the structure of Part X resembles that of the applicant's project.").

3. AOO Phase 3

In the AOO Phase 3, a detailed examination is made as to whether or not the applicant's project (or the applicant's product or production process) conflicts with a third-party invention that may affect the applicant's project, which had been detected by the AOO Phase 1 or equivalent data provided by the applicant. In addition to the AOO Phase 2, this AOO Phase 3 will also indicate in detail any conflicts with patented inventions.