Intellectual Property

Intellectual property, IT and data: overview

In a dispute over technology or information, both what needs to be checked and the steps available differ according to what is at issue — a registered right, the indication or the configuration of goods, or information that has been managed as confidential — and according to how the information has been managed and what the contract provides. Even for the same event, the party bringing a claim and the party facing one have to look at different things.

We assist with organizing the facts at the initial stages of our work on the matter, preserving evidence, negotiations with the other party, provisional dispositions and litigation, and responding in administrative procedures. A provisional disposition is an order of a Japanese court that regulates the position of the parties on a provisional basis while the main proceedings are pending; the applicant must make a prima facie showing of the right and of the need for the order. This page points to individual guides according to the situation.

Reviewed by Keishi Yoshikawa, Attorney at Law and Patent Attorney (Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association)

Last updated: September 18, 2026

How we can helpOrganizing the scope of the technology, information or product concerned / Checking the contracts and notices that relate to it / Securing evidence / Considering the approach to claims and to defending them / Handling negotiations, provisional dispositions and litigation

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Contents

1. What is the situation?
2. Disputes over rights
3. Intellectual property ownership, contracts, and business decisions
4. Removal of trade secrets and technical information
5. System development and the management of data
6. Related areas
7. Making an inquiry
Key legislation and official sources

Articles by situation

When a customer requests copyright assignment for custom SaaS development: preserving updates to shared functions and services for other customers

When support for electronic medical records or other systems is ending: securing the conditions for continued use and data migration

Before agreeing to joint ownership in a joint development agreement: setting the terms needed for commercialization

Alleged OSS license violations in shipped products or ongoing services: remediation of past deliveries and decisions on future supply

Technology and trademarks used by group companies: designing post-reorganization use and future separation

Revising employee invention rules: treatment of past inventions and rewards

When software use rights are called into question after an acquisition

Intellectual property remediation during IPO preparation: reviewing rights, contracts, rules, and practices

Patents and trademarks used by the company are held personally by its president: decisions before business succession

Patenting manufacturing technology or keeping it secret: decisions and records in anticipation of process changes

An invalidation trial against a key patent: responding, seeking corrections, and assessing the business impact

Responding to a patent infringement complaint or a petition for a provisional disposition (interim injunction) in Japan

Responding to a trademark infringement warning letter in Japan

If your Japanese distributor has registered your brand as a trademark: cancellation, transfer, and continued sales

Responding to pharmaceutical patent disputes

Responding when a joint research partner’s consent to licensing a jointly owned patent cannot be obtained

Responding to patent infringement allegations concerning testing and manufacturing for clinical trials or approval applications

Responding to patent infringement allegations concerning API supply and contract manufacturing

Responding to a provisional disposition (interim injunction) to stop pharmaceutical sales immediately before launch

Injunctions based on pharmaceutical patents with extended terms: responses by companies facing claims and by patent holders

When trade secrets are used overseas: jurisdiction, securing evidence, and export controls

Commercial use of AI-generated advertising and voices: permissions and rights to check

AI training opt-outs for a company website: limits of crawl controls and legal measures

When confidential information has been entered into generative AI

Disputes over intellectual property licenses

Responding to the misuse of trade secrets by a competitor

Responding to counterfeit products

When a patent application has been filed without authorization

System Development Disputes

Responding to IP Infringement Warning Letters

1. What is the situation?

Inquiries fall into three broad groups. A question about rights: another company has alleged infringement, the company's own rights are being infringed, or the ownership of a right or the terms on which it may be used is in dispute. A question about information: technical materials or customer information have left the company, or have come into it. A question about system development or the management of data.

Section 3 covers situations where ownership of rights and contractual terms of use are reviewed at stages such as business succession, IPO preparation, acquisitions, reorganizations, and joint development.

The main points to have in order are the scope of the technology, information or product concerned, the contracts that relate to it, any notice received and the deadline attached to it, and the records that remain. Depending on the matter, preserving records, limiting further harm and meeting deadlines may need to proceed in parallel.

What follows is not a complete list of topics in intellectual property, IT and data. It sets out the situations for which we have prepared individual guides. The grouping follows the way a matter usually arrives, and one matter can involve more than one guide.

2. Disputes over rights

This group covers infringement of intellectual property rights, and also the protection of the indication and the configuration of goods under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, license agreements, and disputes over the ownership of rights in connection with a patent application. Each entry below indicates whether the guide is written for the party facing a claim or for the party asserting a right or a claim under a contract.

Responding to a warning alleging infringement of intellectual property rights — where an allegation of infringement reaches the company or one of its business partners. Considering the reply, checking the content of the right and whether there is infringement, considering grounds on which a patent or other right may be invalidated, and handling negotiations and litigation.
Alleged OSS license violations in shipped products or ongoing services: remediation of past deliveries and decisions on future supply — where OSS license violations are alleged in shipped products or ongoing services. The scope of investigation by product, version, and recipient, remediation of past deliveries, future supply, and responses to customers and contractors.
Responding to counterfeit products — where goods resembling the company's own products are being sold. Preserving evidence, identifying the legislation that provides protection, reporting to e-commerce and social media platforms, and procedures at customs.
Disputes over intellectual property licenses — where the company wishes to respond to a breach by the other party, or where a breach is alleged against it. Termination, stock and use after the agreement has ended, and questions of royalties, reporting and audit during the term, set out from the position of both the licensor and the licensee.
When a patent application has been filed without authorization — where another party has filed an application in its own name for technology developed by the company. The difference in procedure according to whether the application is pending or the patent has been registered, and establishing who owns the right.
An invalidation trial against a key patent: responding, seeking corrections, and assessing the business impact — where a request for an invalidation trial has been filed against the company's patent. Considering the written response and proposed corrections, enforcement and proof after correction, parallel infringement litigation, contracts, and external communications.
Responding to pharmaceutical patent disputes — This page brings together links to articles on different scenarios involving pharmaceutical patent disputes. It directs readers to articles addressing five scenarios: provisional dispositions to stop sales immediately before launch, injunctions based on patents with extended terms, testing and manufacturing for clinical trials or approval applications, API supply and contract manufacturing, and consent to licensing jointly owned patents.

3. Intellectual property ownership, contracts, and business decisions

This section addresses who should hold rights in patents, trademarks, software, and other intellectual property, and which contracts should set the terms of use, in contexts such as business succession, IPO preparation, acquisitions, group reorganizations, and joint development.

Patenting manufacturing technology or keeping it secret: decisions and records in anticipation of process changes — where a company is deciding whether to file a patent application for manufacturing technology or keep it secret. Checking past disclosures and future manufacturing and use arrangements, selecting protection for each part of the technology, records supporting prior user rights, the identity of the invention after process changes, and agreements with contractors.
Patents and trademarks used by the company are held personally by its president: decisions before business succession — where preparations for business succession or M&A reveal that patents or trademarks used by the company are registered in its president's personal name. Checking ownership and the basis for use, the effects of inheritance or assignment, the choice between assignment and licensing, consideration and company approvals, and the timing of implementation.
Intellectual property remediation during IPO preparation: reviewing rights, contracts, rules, and practices — where intellectual property remediation is requested during IPO preparation. Checking the source of the request and the underlying concern, ownership of rights needed for the core business and license agreements for their use, past handling of rights and future rules and practices, and the timetable and options if it cannot be met.
When software use rights are called into question after an acquisition — where software use rights are called into question after an acquisition. Identifying the entities and activities affected, comparing contracts with implementation, securing use rights separately from resolving past issues, and coordinating with claims against the seller.
Revising employee invention rules: treatment of past inventions and rewards — where a company is considering revisions to its employee invention rules. The distinction between rule changes and improvements in their operation, the inventions and benefits to which the new rules would apply, the effects of reward revisions on existing benefits, consultation and explanations, and the legal effect of changes to terms.
Technology and trademarks used by group companies: designing post-reorganization use and future separation — where a company is establishing a holding company structure or carrying out a group reorganization. Identifying each company's required uses, combining ownership arrangements and licenses, addressing improvements and future separation, coordinating consideration and tax matters, and checking the provision of technology overseas.
Before agreeing to joint ownership in a joint development agreement: setting the terms needed for commercialization — where a company is preparing to enter into a joint development agreement. Identifying the terms of use needed for planned commercialization, considering the scope for using background technology in the business, distinguishing joint development results from later improvements, and structuring ownership together with terms of use.

4. Removal of trade secrets and technical information

Responding to a former employee suspected of having taken the company's information, bringing a claim against a competitor suspected of having acquired or used it, and responding where a newly hired employee has brought in materials from a previous employer each call for different checks. The guides are divided according to the company's own position and the party the response is directed at.

Where a departing employee is suspected of taking information — responding as the company the information was taken from. Preserving records, dealing with the former employee, and questions of non-competition and solicitation. This work can begin before it is clear whether the information is a trade secret, starting from what the information is and how it was managed.
Responding to the misuse of trade secrets by a competitor — bringing a claim against a company suspected of having acquired or used the information. How use may be established, injunctive relief and damages, and the handling of evidence in provisional disposition proceedings and in litigation.
When a newly hired employee brings in a former employer's materials — responding as the company that received the materials. Isolating the materials and preserving evidence, examining how far they have spread, deciding whether the work can continue, and replying to the former employer.

Dealing with the former employee and bringing a claim against the competitor may be considered in parallel. Where both are in issue, the first two guides are best read together.

5. System development and the management of data

This group covers questions arising from the development of systems and from the management of the data a company holds.

Disputes over system development projects — disputes over the abandonment of a project, refusal to accept delivery, defects, additional cost and delivery dates, payment, and delivery of the work product, from the position of both the vendor and the user.
Responding to cyberattacks and information leaks — the initial response where unauthorized access or ransomware, a leak at a service provider, a misdirected transmission or an incorrect access setting is suspected, whether a report or notification is required, dealing with those affected, and public announcement.
When support for electronic medical records or other systems is ending: securing the conditions for continued use and data migration — where a medical institution has been told that support for electronic medical records or other systems is ending. Identifying what is ending and when, interim use pending migration, transfer of maintenance and modification work, data migration and preservation of old records, and conditions for retiring the old environment.
When a customer requests copyright assignment for custom SaaS development: preserving updates to shared functions and services for other customers — where a SaaS provider is asked to assign copyright as part of custom development for a single customer. The scope of assignment, the terms of the provider's retained use, clauses restricting supply to other customers, and checks for discrepancies between specification changes and the agreed scope.

Where information has left the company, whether the information is protected as a trade secret and whether steps are required under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information are checked separately from each other. A duty of confidentiality under a contract may also be in issue. These questions are best read together with the guides in the previous section.

Disciplinary action, dismissal and requests to resign in relation to employees still in employment, and other matters concerning the employment relationship itself, are covered in Employment Disputes in Japan: A Guide for Employers. Non-competition and solicitation after employment has ended are also covered by the guide on departing employees in the previous section.

How an investigation is conducted where misconduct is suspected inside the company is covered by the guide on internal investigations into suspected misconduct. Where an authority requests a report or carries out an on-site inspection, see also Responding to Regulatory Investigations and Dawn Raids.

For counterfeit products themselves, see the guide in section 2. Where a contract with a business partner abroad or a procedure abroad is also involved, see also International legal services: overview. Regulation of advertising and representations and of entrusted transactions is covered in Regulatory compliance: overview.

7. Making an inquiry

We advise companies, other legal entities and their executives on disputes over technology and information. Depending on the matter and the scope of the instructions, our work runs from organizing the facts at the initial stages of our work on the matter, through preserving evidence and negotiations, to provisional dispositions and litigation and to responding in administrative procedures.

Before we hear the details, we check for conflicts of interest and related points. When you first contact us, please give the company name, the name of the other party, and an outline of the situation. We will explain how to send detailed technical material after those checks.

Key legislation and official sources

English translations of legislation are provided for reference. The Japanese texts are authoritative.

Where it appears	Legislation	Source type
Infringement of patents, and applications filed without authorization (section 2)	Patent Act (Japanese text)	Japanese legislation / English translation
Trademarks, designs and copyright, including licenses (section 2)	Trademark Act (Japanese text), Design Act (Japanese text), Copyright Act (Japanese text)	Japanese legislation / English translation
Indications and the configuration of goods; trade secrets, injunctive relief and damages (sections 2, 3)	Unfair Competition Prevention Act (Japanese text)	Japanese legislation / English translation / Official guidance
Provisional dispositions and the prima facie showing required (introduction, sections 3, 6)	Civil Provisional Remedies Act (Japanese text)	Japanese legislation / English translation
Suspension of the import of infringing goods, and identification procedures (section 2)	Customs Act (Japanese text)	Japanese legislation / English translation / Official guidance
Steps required where personal information has leaked (section 5)	Act on the Protection of Personal Information (Japanese text)	Japanese legislation / English translation / Official guidance

Legal information reviewed: 2026-09-18

Contact

Making an inquiry

Please tell us the outline of the situation, any notice you have received and its date, and any deadline you are working to.