Ohara & Furukawa, Author at Ohara & Furukawa

June 28, 2017

What is an Exclusive License Agreement?

The exclusivity of an agreement is an important part of negotiating any business deal and plays a large role in licensing agreements and distributorship agreements. Making a distributorship agreement exclusive means that only the distributor with the exclusive right may sell the products. Similarly, an exclusive license means that only the licensee can use the license. This exclusivity provides a major business advantage, ensuring that the exclusive distributor or licensee will not face any competition from other companies distributing the same product or using the same license.

June 26, 2017

Do Japanese laws protect trade secrets?

When an employee leaves the service of a company, he or she is required by law to keep trade secrets confidential. Revealing trade secrets, whether for compensation or for free, is illegal and the basis for a lawsuit under Japan’s unfair competition laws. Companies are subject to the same liability for questioning their own employees about the trade secrets of the employee’s former companies.

June 23, 2017

Can a third party submit an opinion on a pending patent application in Japan?

Normally, the patent office is only provided with the patent applicant’s viewpoint when considering a patent application. However, this sometimes doesn’t give the patent office all the information necessary to make a decision on the application as there might be certain prior art that the applicant may wish to hide. This is why it is also possible for third parties to submit their opinions on pending applications.

June 21, 2017

How is land valued for inheritance tax in Japan?

Inheritance tax in Japan is progressive. Therefore the exact value of the inherited assets must be clear before the tax can be accurately calculated. For some assets, like bank accounts, this valuation is easy. In other cases, like real property, the value can be less clear. In general, inheritance tax for real property will usually be calculated based upon the value used for property tax purposes.