Date of Judgment: September 26, 2002
Issuing Authority: Supreme Court
Level of the Issuing Authority: Final Instance
Type of Procedure: Judicial(Civin( �/span>
Subject Matter: Patent(Inventions)
Summary of the judgment (decision):
1. The law governing the validity of a patent right shall be the law of the country where the patent in question was granted.
2. The law governing an action for prohibition and destruction of the infringing
goods brought by way of holding a patent right shall be the law of the country where
the patent in question was granted.
3. To order prohibition of the act of actively inducing
infringement of a U.S. patent and destruction of the infringing goods located in Japan by applying the U.S.
Patent Act is contrary to the meaning of "public order" as described in Article 33
of the Law Concerning the Application of Laws in General.
4. The law governing a claim for damages on the grounds of
infringement of a patent shall be pursuant to Article 11, Paragraph 1 of the Law Concerning the Application of
Laws in General.
5. Concerning a claim for damages filed against another party who
exported from Japan to the U.S. the goods infringing the U.S. patent to be sold in the U.S. market
on the grounds of active inducement to infringement of the said U.S. patent, "the
place where a fact constituting a cause occurred" as described in Article 11, Paragraph
1 of the Law Concerning the Application of Laws in General is the United States of America.
6. The event constituting the act of actively inducing
infringement of a U.S. patent that was carried out in Japan falls under "when a fact occurring in a foreign
county is not illegal under Japanese law" as described in Article 11, Paragraph 2 of the
Law Concerning the Application of Laws in General.
(With regard to 5, there is an opinion, and with regard to 6, there is a
supplementary opinion and a dissenting opinion.)