Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Tokyo District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 70509 [Action objecting to a decision on an application for an order to disclose sender information] (Presiding Judge Takahashi) = Tokyo District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 70570 (Presiding Judge Takahashi) = Tokyo District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 70523 (Presiding Judge Takahashi) ⇒ Disclosure of sender information granted. [Issue 1] Whether communications using BitTorrent constitute "specified tele

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む [Copyright] Case No. 2025 (Ne) 10063 "Mark Gonzales / Angel" (Presiding Judge Moritomi) (= First instance: Tokyo District Court, Case No. 2023 (Wa) 70127, Presiding Judge Shibuya) <Applicable law> Japanese law applies to copyright protected in Japan, and U.S. law applies to copyright protected in the United States. <Work made for hire under U.S. law denied> The works constitute neither works made for hire under U.S. copyright law nor works

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む [Copyrighted works] Osaka District Court, Case No. 2023 (Wa) 9267 "Yamashiron" (Presiding Judge Matsukawa) *Regarding the requirement of "specific reference" under Article 61(2) of the Copyright Act, the court held that a comprehensive statement or agreement is insufficient and that an express agreement specifically identifying the rights under Articles 27 and 28 of the Copyright Act as rights to be transferred is necessary. 1. The plaintif

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Scope: Articles published in January 2026 by attorney Hideki Takaishi (Nakamura & Partners) Number of items included: 34 List page: https://www.nakapat.gr.jp/ja/legal_updates_jp/ <Highlights of This Month> Key Points in the January 2026 Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs Update This month’s legal update addresses 34 court decisions and commentaries spanning a broad range of intellectual-property practice, including chains of divisional

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Scope: Articles published in February 2026 by Attorney Hideki Takaishi (Nakamura & Partners) Number of Articles Included: 34 Index Page: https://www.nakapat.gr.jp/ja/legal_updates_jp/ <Highlights of the Month> Key Points in the February 2026 Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs Update This month's legal update addresses 34 judicial decisions and commentaries across a broad range of intellectual property practice, from claim construction,

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Regarding the copyrightability of applied art, the prevailing view had traditionally been that the threshold for creativity was set higher than for works of fine art. Recently, it had been reported that, in foreign countries such as Germany, the majority view does not distinguish between applied art and fine art, and this judgment can be evaluated as having moved closer to the practice in those countries. (Heisei 26 (Ne) No. 10063) http://w