Kokai
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A kokai or kokai tokkyo koho is a published, unexamined Japanese patent application, in contrast to the kokoku or tokkyo koho, the examined and approved Japanese patent application.[1] Kokai means "open to the public", or "laid-open". Kokai are published eighteen months after the earliest priority date.
Tokukai is another shorthand for "kokai tokkyo koho". Tokkyo (patent) + kokai (open to the public) = tokukai.
References
- ^ Mindy L. Kotler, Gary W. Hamilton, A guide to Japan's patent system, November 1995, p. 19.