Patent Law of Japan (the "Law"), an
invention made by an employee through
performance of his duties to the employer
belongs to the employee. Thus, the
employee has the right to obtain a patent
for such an invention. The employer
obtains only non-exclusive license to the
invention subject to certain conditions.
This system has been criticized for years
mainly by employer corporations as it
is disadvantageous to the development
of industries. The Patent System
Subcommittee (the "Subcommittee")
of the Intellectual Property Committee
of the Industrial Structural Council
has reviewed this issue since last year.
At the meeting of the subcommittee
held in November 2014, a draft of the
summary report (the "Draft Report") was
intensively discussed. Based on the Draft
Report and the minutes of this meeting
will briefly explain the recent discussion
on employees' invention system.
for the "Employee Invention" (as defined
below). The general rule is as follows:
shall have the right to obtain a patent for
the invention (the "Right").
employee (i) falls within the scope of the
business of the employer by its nature,
and, (ii) has been achieved by an act
categorized as a present or past duty of
the employee, the employer shall have a
royalty-free non-exclusive license to the
patent for the invention. Such invention
is called "Employee Invention."
Compensation
employer the Right or the patent for
Employee Invention, or grants an
exclusive license to the employer, the
employee shall have the right to receive
"reasonable compensation."
rules for compensation for assignment
or exclusive license described above,
payment of the compensation calculated
in accordance with such rules shall not
be considered unreasonable in light of
such facts as the adoption process and
the disclosure status of the rules to the
employees.
Employee Invention is what "reasonable
compensation" is. The current Article
practicing law. Her practice involves a broad range of corporate
and intellectual property matters related to cross-border
transactions. Her corporate practice includes experience in
mergers and acquisitions, strategic business alliance and
various regulatory compliance activities and privacy.
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