Ohara & Furukawa, Author at Ohara & Furukawa

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.

June 19, 2017

Can compulsory execution be used on a debtor with little to no assets?

In many cases, the largest obstacle to collecting a debt is simply that the debtor does not have the money to pay. Therefore, even after obtaining a judgment and filing for compulsory execution, if the debtor doesn’t have money to pay the debt, there is little hope of a full recovery. In situations where it seems that the debtor simply does not have enough money to satisfy a debt, it may be more cost effective to approach the matter through negotiation.

June 15, 2017

What is the technical adviser’s role in Japanese court?

These days many lawsuits are filed to settle disputes regarding complex technical issues in fields such as medicine, construction or intellectual property. For cases such as these, Japanese law was modified in 2003 to allow the court may arrange for the participation of a technical adviser in the proceedings to explain issues and evidence. The technical adviser can better help the court and the parties understand the complex technical issues involved in the case.