Category: blog

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    Episode 39 Between late May and early June, a particular book became a hot topic within the patent attorney community: *”Everything About Inventive Step for Patent Practice”* The authors are eight patent attorneys, all with backgrounds in science and engineering, and the supervisor is a lawyer with a similar science/engineering background. Although a bit late…

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    Episode 38 The *Palworld* lawsuit and related patent applications have been a topic of discussion. This is a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo Co., Ltd. and The Pokémon Company against Pocketpair, Inc., the developer and distributor of the game software *Palworld*. When it comes to rights infringement regarding game software, both copyright infringement and…

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    Episode 37 In this installment, I will explain partial designs and the determination of their similarity. Traditionally, an “article” was defined as a tangible object circulating in the marketplace; parts of an article that could not be traded independently were not treated as “articles” under the Design Act, and designs pertaining to parts of an…

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    Episode 36 This time, I will explain the concept of similarity in designs. Design similarity arises in two contexts: the examination stage (Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 3 of the Design Act) and the post-registration stage (Articles 23 and 24, Paragraph 2 of the same Act). According to a Supreme Court judgment (Supreme Court Judgment,…

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    Episode 35 In a lawsuit filed by ZOOM Corporation, a Japanese audio equipment manufacturer, against Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Zoom Inc.) and its Japanese distributor, alleging that the logo for the online meeting system “Zoom” was similar to ZOOM’s own logo and infringed its trademark rights, the Tokyo District Court ruled…

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    Episode 34 On April 24th, in an appeal trial (Supreme Court Judgment of April 24, 2026, Second Petty Bench, Case No. 356 (Ju) of 2025) concerning copyright infringement of a children’s chair (TRIPP TRAPP) between a Norwegian company and a Japanese company, the Supreme Court ruled that copyright infringement of mass-produced practical goods is only…

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    Episode 33 In Episode 27, we explained the distinction between copyright law and design law regarding the protection of images in virtual space (metaverse). This time, we will examine the possibility of copyright protection for avatars. Regarding the definition of “avatar,” Wikipedia states, “An avatar is a character image used primarily for communication purposes as…

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    Episode 32 In Episode 7, we discussed the point that excessive descriptions of the effects of an invention when drafting a patent specification can narrow the scope of rights. Regarding the relationship between an invention’s inventive step and its effects, a court decision (Tokyo High Court, Case 2002 (Gyo-Ke) No. 460, Decision of March 23,…

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    Episode 31 This article explains exclusion claim in claims amendments and corrections. An “exclusion claim” is a claim that explicitly excludes only some of the matters encompassed by the claimed invention from the claims, while leaving the stated matter intact (Examination Guidelines, Chapter 2, 3.3.1(4) – Amendments to Include Exclusion claim). This article explains “exclusion…

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    Episode 30 This article explains the legal system. Legal systems are divided into case law and statutory law. Case law is also known as Anglo-American law. Statutory law is also known as civil law and has its origins in Roman law. Case law systems are characterized by precedent binding, whereby decisions made in earlier court…