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IP NEWS FLASH |
Payment of 163 million yen Ordered as
Reasonable Remuneration For Employee Invention in Hitachi Patent
Lawsuit |
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The
Japanese Supreme Court recently ordered Hitachi Co., Ltd. to pay
approximately 163 million yen to Seiji Yonezawa, a former employee of
the company, as compensation for his inventions relating to light pickup
technology used in compact and other optical discs. The amount equals
$1.5 million. The ruling on October 17, 2006 resulted from a lawsuit
originally filed by Mr. Yonezawa in the Tokyo District Court demanding
reasonable remuneration for his 3 inventions now used in audio equipment
worldwide.
The
Tokyo District Court had originally ordered the payment of approximately
35 million yen or $300,000 by Hitachi. However, the Tokyo High Court, on
appeal, recognized that Yonezawa should also be compensated for the
amount Hitachi benefited through royalties and patent licensing fees
overseas. They calculated that Hitachi's overall earnings from
Yonezawa's inventions- both domestic and abroad- was closer to 1.18
billion yen. Defining the inventor's contribution at 14%, the court
ruled that the reward should amount to 165 million yen. After
subtracting the estimated 2.3 million yen in incentive amounts already
paid, they ruled that Hitachi should pay the resulting 163 million
yen, or $1.5 million, as reasonable remuneration to the former employee.
This is the second
largest sum awarded to an employee-inventor following the
high-profile case of Shuji Nakamura who was awarded 60.4 billion yen for
his blue LED invention in 2004.
Japan is the only
country among developed nations where employee lawsuits involving
crucial inventors has been rising. This is said to be because of a
statute in the Japanese Patent Law that states that "employers must pay
employee-inventors reasonable remuneration separate from his or her
salary" without clearly defining what "reasonable remuneration" is.
Now that the traditional lifetime employment system is no longer the
standard, employees who have previously kept quiet so as not to
jeopardize a guaranteed job for life, are now feeling emboldened to turn
to the courts to settle their complaints.
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