[Copyright] Osaka High Court, Heisei 19 (Ne) No. 713 — Peter Rabbit
Updated: Oct 9
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Copyright
Topics: Injunctions
First published on this site: 2026-10-10
Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10
[Copyright] Osaka High Court, Heisei 19 (Ne) No. 713 — Peter Rabbit
Manufacturer X planned to sell towels using parts of illustrations from picture books whose copyright term had expired. Against Y, the company managing copyright in the picture books, X alleged that Y had its licensees use indications suggesting that copyright still existed, thereby misleading consumers into believing that copyright continued to subsist in Japan (the defendant’s indications). X argued that this constituted unfair competition misleading consumers about the quality or content of licensed goods and about the quality or content of services relating to merchandising licensing.
→ The judgment dismissed X’s claims. The goods bearing the defendant’s indications on reproductions of the works covered by the injunction claim were diverse, but X had not specifically identified, alleged and proved which goods used those indications. Whether an indication “misleads” consumers about the “quality” or “content” of “goods” must be determined by examining the specific content of specific goods, and the conclusion may differ for each product. Without allegations and proof identifying specific goods, X’s case was insufficient.
Copyright notices after expiration of copyright
Displaying patent, utility model or design rights that do not actually exist on products is considered likely to constitute unfair competition in many cases. Such indications often mislead consumers about the quality or content of the products by suggesting that they possess superior technology or design of a kind granted a patent, utility model registration or design registration.
Original article (2025-08-18):
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This history records actual publication, display, and classification changes made on this site.
2026-10-10: First published the LinkedIn original on this site and set the classification, article information, and consultation link.
2026-10-10: Aligned the translation link, canonical URL and hreflang with the verified public URLs.
2026-10-10: Updated topic tags and related-article links. The original article text was not changed.
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