1) extension of the term within which PCT national phase can be effected to thirty months from the earliest claimed priority, irrespective of whether there has been any demand for International Preliminary Examination;

2) ability to enter into the Japanese national phase of a PCT application by submission of the application in English, provided that a Japanese translation is filed within thirty months of the priority date claimed or two months from national phase entry in Japan, whichever is the later;

3) introduction of an information disclosure requirement which will require applicants to include in the description portion of their patent applications details of "any inventions known through documents which are related to the invention" for which protection is sought. In cases where this is not done, the examiner may issue an Official Action calling for amendment of the application to add the missing information;

4) amending the definition of patent infringement to make it clear that transmission of patented computer programs over a network without approval falls under the category of infringement of the patent right; and

an amendment of the definition of patent infringement to make it clear that the supply of parts that are "technically significantly important" to be used for producing a patent infringement will itself be an infringement of the patent if such supply is done with malicious intent. This contrasts with the present law where indirect infringement only occurs where the parts in question are exclusively for use in the patented invention; and

an amendment of the form in which Japanese patent applications are to be submitted to make them more compatible with PCT formats.