Japan’s famous monster “Godzilla,” that is, its trademark, rampages again. On July 19, 2023, Japan’s IP High Court judged in favor of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) Invalidation of Registration for another trademark, “GUZZILLA.” What’s GUZZILLA? GUZZILLA is the name…
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Japan’s IP High Court (IPHC) is setting a trend to deny patented programs even if sent from servers outside of Japan, with its May 26, 2023 case DWANGO v. FC2. The IPHC rejects immunity to FC2 simply on grounds that…
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Japan plans to open a synergistic court this October—the Business Court. The new Business Court, a little further away from Tokyo Station (Nakameguro), is to house the IP High Court and intellectual property matters with other business-related legal courts together…
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We reported less than half a year ago that UNIQLO’s non-viual scanning kiosks were judged patent-infringing by the IP High Court in Tokyo. The victor, IT company Asterisk Inc., was pleased, but wary of a drawn-out IP battle. Indeed, although…
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Old shopping checkouts are vanishing in UNIQLO, which is famous in Japan and now outside of it for its casual apparel retailing. In recent years it gained attention for its automated checkout scanning systems, where the customer can place the…
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Due to the “fourth wave” of novel coronavirus cases in Japan, Tokyo as well as some western prefectures of Japan were declared under yet another State of Emergency from April 25 to May 11. The relatively rigorous following of warnings…
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How will a Japanese patent infringement pay off in damages if the infringement is recognized by the courts? A new decision by the Intellectual Property (IP) High Court of Japan on February 28, 2020 gives some idea of the formula…
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A while back, the “Ikinari! Steak” steak service patent was revoked. Now a patent that the JPO refused to invalidate in a challenge has gone up to the Supreme Court. On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court concurred with the…
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Japan’s Intellectual Property High Court’s seventh chief judge, Makiko Takabe, was installed on May 5, 2018. Her inaugural greeting is now available on the IP High Court’s website. She has had a long career in the justice system in Japan,…
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On May 23, 2017, the Japanese Intellectual Property High Court (IPHC) ruled in favor of Keisen’s client Garmin in a patent infringement claim brought by Pioneer (Case No H28(2016)(NE)10096). The IPHC not only unanimously rejected all of Pioneer’s infringement claims…
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