INPIT Foreign Filing Subsidy Guide (FY2026)｜EVORIX Intellectual Property Office

Notice Regarding the FY2026 INPIT Foreign Application Grant

My name is Kenbun Sugiura, a patent attorney. I am pleased to provide information regarding the FY2026 INPIT Foreign Application Grant (Support Program for Foreign Applications by SMEs, etc.).

The INPIT Foreign Application Grant is a program designed to promote the acquisition of intellectual property rights overseas and support the development of international intellectual property strategies by providing partial funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, universities, and other entities to cover expenses associated with securing rights for inventions, utility models, designs, and trademarks abroad.

Key Points: You can receive a grant covering up to half of the application costs (annual cap of 3 million yen). Starting in fiscal year 2026, “inter-office procedure assistance” has been newly established in addition to application procedure assistance.

Table of Contents

Overview of the Subsidy and Subsidy Amount
Maximum Amount per Application
Eligible Application Types and Application Methods
FY 2026 Application Schedule
Eligible and Ineligible Expenses
Eligibility Requirements (Criteria for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises)
Application Method and Post-Application Process
Important Notes (Duplicate Applications, Economic Security, Obligations)
Past Participating Companies
Free Consultation

Overview of the Subsidy and Subsidy Amount

Item	Application Procedure Assistance	Interim Procedure Assistance
Eligible Procedures	Patent, Utility Model, Design, and Trademark Applications Abroad (including PCT, Hague, and Madrid)	Interim responses to notices of grounds for refusal, requests for examination of applications
Assistance Rate	Up to 50%	Up to 50%
Annual Cap	Up to 3 million yen per business per year	Up to 3 million yen per year when combined with application procedure subsidies
Eligible Entities	Small and medium-sized enterprises, specific start-up corporations, universities, etc., and licensees, etc.	Businesses that have been selected for application procedure assistance

Maximum subsidy amount per application

Type of Application	Maximum Amount per Application
Patent application	Up to 1.5 million yen
Utility Model, Design, and Trademark Applications	Up to 600,000 yen
Applications for Trademark Infringement Prevention	Up to 300,000 yen

*Note: "One application" refers to a complete set of applications filed with various foreign patent offices, etc., based on a single underlying domestic application. Applications filed in multiple countries or regions are also treated as "one application.
" *For patent applications, the maximum subsidy amount per application is the lower of the amount shown in the table above or the amount obtained by multiplying the amount in the table by the number of designated countries in the application. *There is no upper limit for research and development
institutions (universities and other institutions that meet certain requirements).

Eligible Application Types and Application Methods

This grant covers the following four types of rights:

Inventions (Patents)

Utility Models

Design

Trademarks

[When claiming priority]

Direct filing with a foreign patent office, etc., in accordance with the laws and regulations of the relevant country or region (Paris Route)
International application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (including national phase entry procedures in each country)
International design registration application under the Hague Agreement
International trademark registration application under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement

【When Not Claiming Priority】

PCT application (requires national phase entry in Japan)
Hague applications (Japan may be included among the designated countries)
Madrid Protocol application (if there is a corresponding Japanese trademark application)

Important: Applications filed with foreign patent offices and those filed with the Japan Patent Office must be in the name of the same applicant to be eligible for assistance.

FY 2026 Application Schedule

[Application Assistance]

Round	Application Period	Status
Round 2	Monday, March 2, 2026 – Monday, March 23, 2026, 5:00 PM	Applications Closed
Round 3	Monday, June 8, 2026 – Monday, June 29, 2026, 5:00 PM	Registration to Open
Session 4	Monday, September 7, 2026 – Monday, September 28, 2026, 5:00 PM	Scheduled

[Mid-Year Application Assistance]

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – Monday, December 14, 2026 (Applications accepted year-round)

*Project period ends: Friday, October 2, 2026. All expenses must be paid in full, and the final report must be submitted within 30 days or by the above date, whichever comes first.

Eligible and Ineligible Expenses

Eligible expenses are limited to those for which a contract (order) was entered into after the grant decision was made, and for which acceptance and payment were completed within the project implementation period.

[Eligible Expenses]

Expense Category	Details
Fees paid to foreign patent offices, etc.	Fees for filing with foreign patent offices, fees for domestic transition procedures (excluding the portion for transition to Japan), fees for application comments, fees for procedural amendments, and fees required for requesting examination of the application, etc.
Agent Fees	Fees for domestic agents (patent attorneys), fees for local agents (generally assuming one agent per country), fees for certification procedures by a certifying officer, fees for preparing powers of attorney, etc.
Translation Fees	Costs associated with translating application documents
Bank fees, etc.	Bank transfer fees and remittance fees (to be prorated if combined with applications not eligible for subsidy)

[Expenses Not Eligible for Subsidy]

Costs associated with preparing grant application and reporting documents
Stamp duty, overseas value-added tax (VAT), service tax, etc.
Fees paid to the Japan Patent Office (e.g., Madrid Protocol national office fees, priority certificate issuance fees, etc.)
Prior art search costs
Official fees for the international phase of international applications (e.g., international application fees, fees for requesting preliminary examination)
Registration fees and taxes
Agent fees corresponding to the above

Note: Please calculate eligible expenses after excluding consumption tax in advance. For foreign currency amounts, convert to yen at the market rate on the date of payment.

Eligibility Requirements (Criteria for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises)

Eligible applicants are those with their head office in Japan who meet any of the following criteria:

(1) Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Industry	Capital	Number of Employees (Full-time)
Manufacturing, Construction, Transportation	300 million yen or less	300 or fewer
Wholesale	100 million yen or less	100 or fewer employees
Service industry (excluding software, information processing services, and lodging)	50 million yen or less	100 or fewer employees
Retail	50 million yen or less	50 or fewer employees
Rubber product manufacturing (*)	300 million yen or less	900 or fewer employees
Software industry or information processing services	300 million yen or less	300 or fewer employees
Hotel industry	50 million yen or less	200 or fewer employees
Other industries	300 million yen or less	300 or fewer employees

*Excluding manufacturers of tires and tubes for automobiles or aircraft, and manufacturers of industrial belts

(2) Start-up Corporations

Corporations with capital of 300 million yen or less that have not been in existence for more than 10 years as of the date of application.

(3) Research and Development Institutions, etc.

Research staff at universities, technical colleges, university joint research institutions, independent administrative agencies, national research and development corporations, and other entities engaged in research-related activities.

(4) Licensees, etc.

A person who has been granted a license or similar right by an applicant falling under (1) through (3) above and who bears part or all of the expenses related to the application.

Excluded: Deemed Large Enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in
which a single large enterprise owns more than half of the total issued shares or total capital, or in which large enterprises collectively own more than two-thirds of the total issued shares or total capital, are deemed “large enterprises” and are ineligible for subsidies.

申請方法・申請後の流れ

申請はjGrants（政府補助金電子申請システム）による電子申請のみです。

事前準備（重要）：GビズIDプライムアカウントの取得が必須です。アカウント発行には約1～2週間かかりますので、余裕をもってご準備ください。
GビズID取得サイト：https://gbiz-id.go.jp/top/

申請のポイント

1社（者）1申請が原則です。複数案件がある場合はまとめて申請してください。
賃上げ加点を希望する場合は、別途誓約書の提出が必要です。
応募締切直前はシステムが混み合い、エラーが表示されることがあります。余裕をもって申請してください。

申請後の流れ

応募申請 → jGrantsで電子申請
審査 → INPIT事務局にて書類審査
採択・交付決定 → jGrantsにて通知（交付申請手続は不要）
補助事業実施 → 出願手続の実行（交付決定後に発注・支払い）
実績報告 → 支払い完了後30日以内に提出
精算払請求 → 補助額確定後、請求書提出→銀行口座へ振込
権利化状況報告 → 補助事業完了後、毎年3月31日を経過した際に提出

注意事項

重複申請の禁止

他の助成事業（JETRO中小企業等海外出願・侵害対策支援事業、各自治体の知財関連助成事業等）の補助対象出願として申請・採択されている出願は、本補助金に応募申請できません。

経済安全保障に関する注意

経済安全保障推進法に定める「特許出願の非公開」制度に該当する発明を含む出願については、本補助金の応募申請を行うことはできません。

補助事業者の主な義務

補助事業完了後5年間、証拠書類を整理・保存する義務
権利化状況報告書の提出義務（補助対象出願すべての審査結果・登録状況等）
経費の配分変更・事業の中止等をする場合は事前にINPITの承認が必要
賃上げ加点を受けた事業者は、賃上げの状況を報告する義務あり

お問い合わせ先

INPIT外国出願補助金事務局
電話：03-3502-5424
メール：info@gaikoku.inpit.go.jp
受付時間：10:00～17:00（土日祝日・年末年始を除く）
公式サイト：https://www.inpit.go.jp/shien/gaikoku/index.html

Past Clients

At the intellectual property firm Evolix, we have assisted clients such as the following with their grant applications (track record).

Apparel Companies

Beauty Products

Plastic Molded Products & Household Goods

The Japan Patent Office’s collection of case studies on foreign application grants features examples of how various companies have utilized these grants. Please feel free to refer to them.

Our firm has extensive experience handling all types of patent, design, and trademark applications. We have also assisted with applications submitted through regional offices such as the Osaka Bureau of Industry, and as a result, all applications were approved and grants were successfully obtained.