Ohara & Furukawa, Author at Ohara & Furukawa

October 19, 2017

What are the unique aspects of Japan’s Design Law?

While Japan’s Design Law provides much of the same protection as other intellectual property laws around the world, it also has a few unique elements that provide protections not found in other countries. For example, since 2006, the Japanese Design Law also protects the design of screens for cell phones, DVD recorders and other electronics that are not normally subject to protection in other countries.

October 17, 2017

How do you determine the location of assets in an inheritance?

In order to determine inheritance tax in Japan, the location of the inherited asset plays an important role. Determining this location is relatively simple for some types of assets. For example, real property and personal property are located where they exist. However, for less tangible assets, like bank accounts, that can be accessed from around the world, the situation is more complicated.

October 12, 2017

How can you stay compulsory execution in Japan?

There are certain ways to stay an order of compulsory execution and prevent your property from being seized immediately. Most of them involve a court order stating that compulsory execution is not permitted against the property in question for one of several legal reasons. Authenticated civil records, settlement agreements or other documents that state that compulsory execution is not to be carried out against the property also result in a stay of compulsory execution.

October 10, 2017

Is a child born in Japan automatically Japanese?

Under the citizenship by parentage system, as long as one of the child’s parents is Japanese, the baby is entitled to receive Japanese citizenship. The birth of the baby must be registered with the local government office or, if overseas, at the Japanese embassy or consulate. However, simply being born in Japan is not enough for a baby without Japanese parents to acquire Japanese citizenship.