1. System for Non-Disclosure of Selected Patent Applications (Hidetsugu Miyokawa)

On May 11, 2022, the Economic Security Promotion Act (hereinafter referred to as the “ESPA”) was enacted, in which the System for Non-Disclosure of Selected Patent Applications (hereinafter referred to as the “Non -Disclosure System”) was introduced along with the Systems for ...Read more >>>

2. Recent IP High Court Decision regarding the Patent Linkage System in Japan (Sayaka Ueno)

This article introduces a recent decision from the IP Hight Court (2022 (NE) No. 10093) (the “High Court’s Decision”) that was issued on May 10, 2023 in a generic versus originator dispute. The generic company (the “GE Maker”), as the plaintiff in the first instance and ... Read more >>>

3. Changes in Media, Changes in Evidence- Recent IP High Court Decision Recognized the Well-known Status of a “Viral” Unregistered Trademark - (Kanako Ohta)

Proving the well-known status of a mark is quite a challenge in Japan and usually requires a trademark owner to produce a substantial amount of evidence proving extensive use of the mark, typically consisting of advertisements, brochures and magazine articles bearing the trademark. However, ...Read more >>>

4. Remedial Conditions Eased from “Legitimate Reasons” to “Unintentional” under the Design Act (Miwa Hayashi, Koji Akanegakubo and Koji Miyake)

As of April 1, 2023, the requirements for the restoration of the design rights were relaxed by the revised Design Act (the “Revised Act”). More specifically, under the Revised Act, the requirements for the remedial provisions for, ...  Read more >>>

5. About TMI

Since our establishment on October 1, 1990, TMI Associates has grown rapidly to become a full-service law firm that offers valuable and comprehensive legal services ..Read more >>>