Ohara & Furukawa, Author at Ohara & Furukawa

April 22, 2016

Do companies have to give paid leave in Japan?

Japanese companies are required to grant 10 days of paid leave to employees who have been working continuously for at least 6 months and have reported to work at least 80% of the time. As the employee continues to work for the company, the number of paid leave days will increase by one additional day after the first year of employment to any increase of 10 additional days after working 6 years or more for the employer.

April 13, 2016

Is it possible to invalidate a patent application that was granted incorrectly?

Although the patent application process weeds out most fraudulent applications sometimes patents are granted to the wrong person by mistake. This may be the result of a misunderstanding or someone acting with a bad motive. In either case, inventors who feel that that a patent was granted incorrectly may bring an action in court to invalidate it.

April 11, 2016

Do you need to pass a Japanese language test to naturalize as a Japanese citizen?

One of the requirements that foreign nationals must meet before being allowed to naturalize as a Japanese citizen is that the foreign national have a very basic level of Japanese language ability. The way the foreign national can prove that he or she meets this requirement is by taking a simple Japanese language test as part of the naturalization process.

April 8, 2016

Is it possible to have an arbitration in Japan governed by another country’s law?

All arbitrations held in Japan are governed by the Japan Arbitration Act. However, this Act merely governs the process and rules of arbitration and, for the most part, does not touch on the content of the dispute. When it comes to the law being applied to the dispute between the parties, an arbitration in Japan can apply the law of any country, not just that of Japan.