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. 4th Floor, Kasumigaseki Building 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, Japan 100-6004 +81 3 3595 7105 Fax halaw.jp |