1. Supreme Court Ruling in DWANGO v. FC2 Case - Network-Related Inventions and Territoriality (Yoshiyuki Takanashi)

On March 3, 2025, the Supreme Court rendered two judgments in two patent infringement lawsuits between DWANGO and FC2 (Cases No. 14 and 15 (ju), 2023, in which our firm represented DWANGO ... Read more >>>

2. The Latest Grand Panel Decision of the IP High Court: Discussion on Patentability and Article 69(3) Exemption for a Breast Augmentation Composition Patent (Sayaka Ueno)

This Grand Panel decision of the IP High Court, Case No. 2023 (Ne) 10040, rendered on March 19, 2025, concerns a patent infringement suit filed by the patentee claiming a composition for breast augmentation, comprising three components. ... Read more >>>

3. Three-Dimensional Character Trademarks: The Shin Godzilla Case (Tomohiro Kuribayashi)

In general, it is difficult to obtain a three-dimensional trademark for the shape of a product in Japan. However, a recent Intellectual Property High Court (“IPHC”) decision granted registration of a three-dimensional trademark ... Read more >>>

4. Protecting Designs in the Metaverse - Part 2-: Upcoming revisions for the Design Act (Miwa Hayashi, Koji Akanegakubo and Koji Miyake)

In our previous newsletter (Japan Patent & Trademark Update Issue 29) , we introduced how the Design Act, particularly after the 2019 revision, opened the door to protecting graphic images in the metaverse. ... 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 >>>