اليابان

Date of Judgment: April 24, 2008

Issuing Authority: Supreme Court

Level of the Issuing Authority: Final Instance

Type of Procedure: Judicial（Civil）

Subject Matter: Patent (Inventions)

Summary of the judgment (decision):

Where, with regard to X's claim against Y for damages for infringement of a patent right, the court of second instance rendered a judgment to dismiss the claim by adopting Y's allegation of invalidity under Article 104-3, paragraph (1) of the Patent Act, and then a trial decision to allow a correction for the purpose of restricting the scope of claims pertaining to said patent right became final and binding, if X challenges the determination of the court of second instance by arguing that there exist the grounds for retrial set forth in Article 338, paragraph (1), item (viii) of the Code of Civil Procedure because said trial decision became final and binding, given the facts shown in (1) and (2) below, such behavior of X is regarded as causing an unreasonable delay in solving the dispute and therefore impermissible in light of the purpose of the provision of Article 104-3 of the Patent Act:

(1) Considering that the judgment of first instance dismissed X's claim for damages by adopting Y's allegation of invalidity, X should have advanced, at an early stage at least in the proceedings in the second instance, an allegation to deny or overturn Y's allegation of invalidity;
(2) The trial decision in question was made in response to the request for a trial for correction filed by X after the conclusion of oral argument in the second instance. In view of the content of the trial decision and the fact that X filed requests for trial for correction twice and withdrew both requests while the proceedings in the second instance continued for more than one year, no reason can be found to justify X's failure to advance, prior to the conclusion of oral argument in the second instance, a counter-allegation relating to the request for a trial for correction that was filed after the conclusion of oral argument, in order to deny or overturn Y's allegation of invalidity.

(There is an opinion.)