[Unfair Competition Prevention Act, Article 2(1)(iii)/Imitation of Product Configuration] Tokyo District Court, 2023 (Wa) 4333 <Shibata>

日本語原文 / Japanese original

Article information

Article type: Case note

Category: Unfair competition law

Topics: —

First published on this website: 2026-11-01

Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026

Originally published on Ameblo: 2025-01-23 (Japan time). Full English translation.

https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12883525179.html

[Unfair Competition Prevention Act, Article 2(1)(iii)/Imitation of Product Configuration] Tokyo District Court, 2023 (Wa) 4333 <Shibata>

The masks are distributed and purchased by consumers inside their packaging.

⇒ The entire package, together with the masks inside it, constitutes the “product,” and the packaging design constitutes the product's “patterns and colors.”

⇒ The configurations are substantially identical!!

(However, the claim was dismissed because no causal relationship was found between the damages asserted by the plaintiff and sales of the defendant's goods.)

https://www.courts.go.jp/app/files/hanrei_jp/679/092679_hanrei.pdf

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November 2, 2026: Added article information, classification, topics, language navigation, related articles where the same case was confirmed, consultation guidance, and SEO. The original text and first-published date were preserved.