National Patent Litigation — Japan

Abstract

Injunctive relief and monetary compensation for damages are available. If the court finds that the alleged infringer is actually infringing a valid patent or that there is a threat of infringement through the proceeding for litigation on the merits, the court orders an injunctive relief upon patentee’s request without examining other conditions such as public policy or the necessity for such an injunction except for cases of standard essential patents for which a FRAND declaration was made. Compensation for damages is limited to the actual damages caused by the act of infringement taking place after the patent was granted. Punitive damages are not awarded. A patentee may rely on one of the following three methods for quantifying damages: 1) [quantity of articles sold by the infringer] × [marginal profit per unit of competitive products which would have been sold by the injured party]; 2) marginal profits gained by the infringer through the act of infringement; and 3) the amount equivalent to a reasonable royalty.

Keywords: National Patent litigation Japan, Japan, injunctive relief, infringement, damages, compensation