FAQ Archives - Page 5 of 94 - Ohara & Furukawa

June 3, 2022

Contract Payment Clauses In Japan

Contract payment clauses in Japan are similar to those in contracts of other jurisdictions. The payment clause in a contract determines how much one party will pay the other and under what conditions. While this seems simple enough, it is all too easy to simply list the price of the contract and forget to include other important details that, if ignored, may result in disputes at a later date. For example, in international contracts the two parties often use different currencies, so picking the currency to be used for payment, or at least specifying the exchange rate, will ensure that […]

June 2, 2022

Mandatory Provisions for Contracts in Japan

For the most part, parties have freedom of contract in Japan and are allowed to include, or not include, whatever they want in their contract. However, there are exceptions to this generally lenient rule and the mandatory provisions for contracts in Japan included in the Japan Civil Code are one exception. These are mandatory provisions for contracts in Japan that are automatically inserted into the contract by law. One example is for contracts governing the lease of land for the purpose of owning a building. The Land Lease and House Lease Act provides that these contracts shall have a minimum […]

January 19, 2022

Exclusive Licenses in Japan

Exclusive licenses in Japan for intellectual property are, similar to other jurisdiction, exclusive to everyone as set forth by the licensee. That includes the patent or trademark owner and therefore, patent or trademark owners who choose to enter into an exclusive license agreement give up their own right to use the patent for the extent of the license. However, a recent trend in intellectual property licensing has been to grant a license to a party while, at the same time, promise not to grant any further licenses to other third parties. Therefore, this type of license agreement has two main […]

February 1, 2021

Release Clauses in Japan

In Japan and many other countries, when signing a settlement agreement, a release clause is a very important thing to consider. As for release clauses in Japan, the most important consideration is whether the agreement prevents one or both parties from filing any lawsuits in the future. If the agreement does not prevent future litigation over the same topic, it is essentially useless as a settlement. This release of future claims is contained in the release clause of most settlement agreements. The release clause should clearly state that the case being settled will be withdrawn from court and that one […]