You can try. If the tree was grafted they might not germinate, or might look much different from the tree the seeds came from. If you have never seen seedlings in the yard under and around the origional tree might be an indication of wether the seeds are viable or not.

I actually have seen a few sporadic seedlings under the tree, most of them deep red. I tried to transplant one, it just sort of sat in stasis for a year and died a slow death the next season. I figure starting a bunch of the seeds I'm likely to get one keeper.

In the interim I found a good web site about this very topic. Looks like I should wait till october to pick the seed pods. Maybe I'll fertilize the tree and hope to get some healthier pods.

Here is a link that might be useful: Starting Japanese Maple Seedlings