Digital Commons Network^™

The Post-Grant Life: Coordinating & Strategizing Challenges Of Issued Patents In Multiple Continents, Karen E. Sandrik

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

With the enactment of the Leahy-Smith American Invents Act (AIA), U.S. patent law gained a new post-grant opposition system and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). While the U.S. post-grant opposition system has some similarities to the post-grant systems, such as that in the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Australia, there are also notable differences. Navigating one’s own post-grant system can be challenging, but doing so in multiple patent offices around the world is daunting. Differences in these proceedings not only present the potential for parties to make costly errors, but also to engage in strategic behavior. …

Trademark Use Doctrine In The European Union And Japan, Martin Husovec

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

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Patent Litigation In Japan, David W. Hill, Shinichi Murata

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

This article will explore how patent litigation in Japan has changed and will also compare and contrast aspects of patent litigation in the U.S. and Japan.

In Part II, we show recent statistical data on Japanese patent infringement litigation. Parts III and IV briefly review the Japanese judicial system and legal professionals in the area of intellectual property. Part V addresses patent-infringement actions in Japan and the recent amendments of the Code of Civil Procedure and the Patent Law. Next, Parts VI and VII discuss infringement analysis and possible defenses in patent-infringement litigation. Part VIII reviews how to calculate the …

More Than Bric-A-Brac: Testing Chinese Exceptionalism In Patenting Behavior Using Comparative Empirical Analysis, Jay P. Kesan, Alan Marco, Richard Miller

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Although many developing economies are increasingly influencing the global economy, China’s influence has been the greatest of these by far. Once hindered from competition by political and economic restrictions, China is now a major economic player. As China’s economic might has grown, so too has the demand for intellectual property protection for technologies originating from China. In this article, we present a detailed empirical study of Chinese patenting trends in the United States and the implications of these trends for the global economy. We compare these trends to patenting trends from earlier decades. Specifically, we compare Chinese patenting trends to …

The Impact Of The 'Technology Transfer Surplus' On The Trade Deficit With Japan And Its Cures, M. Brendan Chatham

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

China's New Copyright Law Reforms: A Comparative Analysis, Shruti Rana, Garland Rowland

Shruti Rana

Nations and businesses around the globe have been battling over copyright protection rules, with industrialized nations pressuring developing nations to adopt Western-style copyright regimes. These battles have escalated as copyright piracy grows and developing nations struggle to formulate laws that will protect their own intellectual properties as well as those of industrialized nations. China is at the cutting edge of these debates; in the summer of 2012, China released transformative new proposals to modify its copyright rules. This Article, which we believe is the first in-depth academic piece analyzing China’s new reforms, critiques China’s new proposals and argues that China …

Trademark Dilution In Japan, Kenneth L. Port

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Why "Bad" Patents Survive In The Market And How Should We Change?--The Private And Social Costs Of Patents, Jay P. Kesan

ExpressO

In this paper, we formally demonstrate that incorrectly issued patents can survive in the market without judicial review, even when the invention is neither novel nor non-obvious. We support this contention by presenting a game theoretic model that studies the interaction between the patentee and an alleged infringer/challenger. Using this model, we demonstrate the impact of the transaction costs in the patent system at the administrative stage in the Patent Office and at the enforcement stage in the courts, and highlight the inability in our current system to mount effective challenges to improperly granted patents in the current system. We …

A Comparative Study Of United States And Japanese Laws On Collaborative Inventions, And The Impact Of Those Laws On Technology Transfers, Mary Lafrance

Scholarly Works

This research examines United States and Japanese laws regarding patent rights in collaborative inventions, and inquires whether these laws may impede technology transfers by creating uncertainty regarding the ownership, validity, or enforceability of the resulting patents, or by imposing undue obstacles to the licensing or assignment of such patents. Where the laws of the two countries differ, this paper compares the merits of each approach and also assesses whether the differing approaches could be troublesome for cross-border transactions.

One of the most significant differences between United States and Japanese law regarding joint inventions is in the requirement of consent for …

Post-Grant Patent Invalidation In China And In The United States, Europe, And Japan: A Comparative Study, Haito Sun

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Copyright Infringement, Sex Trafficking, And Defamation In The Fictional Life Of A Geisha, Susan Tiefenbrun

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Memoirs of a Geisha has sold and made millions for Arthur Golden since 1997. This is his first novel, and it has earned him worldwide acclaim. A feature film version directed by Steven Spielberg is in the works. The book is translated into more than twenty languages. This article uses the book and the legal controversy that ensued after its publication to ask, and hopefully answer, two questions: First, is the geisha tradition as described by Golden in his fictional biography a variant of sex trafficking and sexual slavery which, despite possible cultural justifications, should be abolished by law? Second, …

Will The United States Take The Plunge Into Global Patent Law Harmonization? A Discussion Of The United States' Past, Present, And Future Harmonization Efforts., Anneliese M. Seifert

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Ms. Seifert discusses the factors that shape harmonization of a global patent law system. She touches on how the philosophical differences of the United States, Japanese, and European patent systems have created difficulty in establishing a cohesive patent law system. The author then discusses international harmonization efforts such as WIPO and TRIPs and national patent law changes, such as the eighteen-month publication period created under the American Inventors Protection Act. In conclusion, the author discusses the future of patent harmonization, suggesting the need for a global, uniform method of patent interpretation for meaningful harmonization.

International And Comparative Law Perspectives On Internet Patents, Toshiko Takenaka

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Internet and e-commerce have created a borderless market. Goods and services sold on the Internet are subject to the patent statutes and regulations of all countries in which customers have access. Because the presence or absence of patent protection--or variations in that protection--hinders the movement of goods and services throughout the Internet, it is necessary to harmonize the protection afforded by Internet patents in their early stages of development. Among the three papers, however, only Professor Chiappetta touched upon the problem of compliance with the provisions in TRIPS. None of the papers paid attention to the feasibility of harmonizing …

Protection Of Famous Trademarks In Japan And The United States, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

The concepts of trademark jurisprudence in Japan and the United States differ drastically. This difference is apparent in many aspects of trademark protection in both countries and is most evident in the treatment of famous marks. Although Japan and the United States share elements of trademark law that cause some observers to claim that Japan is legally the fifty-first State, the conceptual differences at the foundation of trademark law in each country are so significant that such a claim seems inaccurate and misleading.

Japanese Patent Law And The Wipo Patent Law Harmonization Treaty: A Comparative Analysis, Mark S. Cohen

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Performer's Rights And Digital Sampling Under U.S. And Japanese Law, Jessica D. Litman

Articles

A year or two ago, one of my copyright students called to my attention a problem that seemed to him to pose unique difficulties for the copyright statute. The problem arises because of a technology called digital sampling.' Digital sampling is a new threat to performers' rights that has grown out of the combination of digital recording technology with music synthesizer technology. This threat is a very recent one. Indeed, the digital sampling problem is so new that copyright lawyers haven't yet figured out how to think about it.

The Limitations On The Protection Of Program Works Under Japanese Copyright Law, Dennis S. Karjala

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article examines these problems in the light of the program language, rule, and algorithm limitations on program protection under the Japanese Copyright Act. Section II sets forth the relevant statutory language, and Sections III and IV apply the program language and rule limitations to operating systems software and microcode. Section V considers the scope of protection under Japanese law in applications programs under the algorithm limitation on program protection. Finally, Section VI takes up the problem of whether copying for purposes of reverse engineering can be justified under the Act.

Computer Technology And Copyright- A Review Of Legislative And Judicial Developments In Japan, Teruo Doi

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article discusses and evaluates the legislative and judicial developments after the enactment of the Copyright Law which apply to computer programs and other computer-related technology. It examines: (1) the 1985 amendment to the Copyright Law enacted to protect computer programs, including the history of discussions by government agencies and judicial determinations that led to the amendment; (2) the 1986 Program Registration Law which supplements the existing provisions of the Copyright Law concerning registration; (3) the protection of databases under a new amendment to the Copyright Law; (4) the regulation of software rental business by the establishment of a public …