1. Removal of residency requirements for representative directors of joint stock companies The Ministry of Justice issued a notice on March 16, 2015 containing the following information. The treatment in the Answer Minshi No. 4974 dated September 26, 1984 from the Fourth Section Chief of the Civil Affairs Bureau and the Answer Minshi No. 1480 […]
If a Taiwanese person or Taiwanese corporation located in Taiwan is the defendant (“Taiwanese Defendant”) when attempting to file proceedings in Japan, not only must they consider whether or not the case can be won, but many other issues as well. Whether or not there is jurisdiction in Japan It is necessary to consider whether […]
The act of reselling or transferring genuine products (including patented products and copyrighted works) that have been legitimately purchased with modifications, retrofittings, processing or replaced parts (“Modifications”) may be an infringement of the intellectual property rights included in the genuine products. We will provide an outline on this below, focusing on patent law, trademark law, […]
The government has decided to amend the Act on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness (hereinafter referred to as “Amendments to Competitiveness Act”) to allow the holding of virtual-only shareholders meetings, and will submit it to the Diet. Requirements for listed companies to hold virtual-only general meetings According to the revised law, the requirements for a listed company […]
The Companies Act was amended in the first year of Reiwa (2019), stipulating the (1) granting of incentives for directors, (2) utilization of outside directors, (3) systems for providing the materials of joint-stock companies electronically, and (4) responses to abusive shareholder proposals. This amendment will come into effect on March 1, 2021, excluding the electronic […]
Even patent trolls feel like they’re stepping on thin ice now in Texas
The 1990s were a time when the “war on drugs” intensified in the United States. All federal courts were busy handling drug-related cases. Since criminal cases had priority, it was difficult for judges to handle civil cases like patent litigation. Therefore, companies with patent litigation had to find places where there was a relatively low […]
Patent warranty clauses and indemnification clauses are often stipulated in basic sales agreements. In this case, one of the points of contention was a breach of obligations like the patent warranty clause in a basic sales agreement. In this paper, we will focus on this point. Summary of the case According to the judgment, the […]
Japan is a country where cannabis products are strictly prohibited. The Trademark Office grants trademark protection for CBD (or cannabidiol) and you can apply for a trademark, but you may be refused. Such trademark applications can be deemed to violate public order and morals. But generally speaking, the Japanese patent office tends to grant thetrademark […]
The biggest challenge clients will face in Japan is that cannabis is strictly regulated as a type of a narcotic in Japan. The only cannabis products that you can commercialise here is THC-free CBD products extracted and manufactured from mature cannabis stems or seeds. Actually, the Japanese government is publishing products in which THC is […]
What’s the biggest challenge advisors face when trying to understand risk in this space?
In Japan there has to be a discussion around cannabis for medicinal purposes. Clients need to know more aboutthis. At the moment, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is increasingly likely to change its guidance adding cannabis-based products to its banned lists for non-pharmaceutical products including health food and cosmetic. For instance, changing […]
It is understood that as transactions with foreign companies increase, so do cases of dealing with trials at foreign courts. However, the decisions of foreign courts cannot be enforced in Japan as they are, and certain requirements must be met. Therefore, we will briefly explain the enforcement of decisions of foreign courts in Japan this […]
One of the parties, namely the defendant, may file for bankruptcy during the proceedings. For example, when a lawsuit is filed to recover debt, the defendant, being the debtor, might file for bankruptcy. If the defendant goes bankrupt during the proceedings, the progression of the proceedings will differ depending on what is being disputed in […]
