[Article/Unfair Competition Prevention Act] Ownership of Rights concerning Unknown Methods of Exploitation (Kazuhiro Ando, Intellectual Property Law and Policy Journal, 2010)
Updated: 6 hours ago
Article information
Article type: Publication review
Category: Copyright, Unfair competition law
Topics: —
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2025-04-21 (Japan time). Full English translation.
[Article/Unfair Competition Prevention Act] Ownership of Rights concerning Unknown Methods of Exploitation (Kazuhiro Ando, Intellectual Property Law and Policy Journal, Vol. 26 (2010))
*Tokyo High Court, 2002 (Ne) 5907 (Kaiketsu Lion-Maru case)
The court held that the contractual wording “assign the ‘broadcasting rights’ for ¥10 million” did not include “satellite broadcasting,” which did not exist at the time of the contract.
*Tokyo District Court, 2006 (Wa) 1769 (THE BOOM case)
The court held that the contractual wording “Party A exclusively assigns these to Party B without any restriction” also included the “right to make transmittable,” which did not exist at the time of the contract.
⇒ As to the relationship with the Kaiketsu Lion-Maru case, that case concerned a partial assignment of copyright, not a comprehensive assignment of all rights, so the method and substance of interpreting the parties' intentions naturally differed.
*Tokyo District Court, 2006 (Wa) 8752 (HEAT WAVE case)
“Whether ‘all rights (including X2's neighboring rights)’ include performers' right to make transmittable is to be determined by comprehensively considering … matters in accordance with the method of contractual interpretation.”
⇒ The court held that it also included the “right to make transmittable,” which did not exist at the time of the contract.
Translator’s notes (editorial)
The source labels this article “Unfair Competition Prevention Act” although its content concerns copyright contracts; the label is retained.
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