Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu | View firm profile
Introduction
On March 19, 2025, the Grand Panel of the Intellectual Property High Court (the “IPHC”) rendered their judgment in a patent infringement case. The court reversed a Tokyo District Court’s judgment and found that the defendant had infringed the plaintiff’s patent.
This case represents the 16th Grand Panel judgment of the IPHC[1] and was subject to a proceeding calling for third-party opinions (Japanese procedure allowing for non-party submissions of briefs similar to amicus curiae briefs)[2].
This newsletter provides an overview and explains the significance of this judgment based on the text of the judgment published on the official website of the IPHC.
View original article here.
[Authors]
| Kenji Tosaki (Partner) |
| Masato Kumeuchi (Partner) |
| Soichiro Unami |
[1] A Grand Panel judgment is not a judgment relating to a single case; rather, several judgments/decisions relating to several cases addressing the same legal issues were rendered by the Grand Panel of the IPHC on the same day. By counting such group of judgments/decisions collectively as one Grand Panel judgment, this case is recognized as the 16th Grand Panel judgment issued.
[2] A proceeding calling for third-party opinions (set out in Article 105(2-11) of the Patent Act) was introduced by the 2021 amendment to the Patent Act. This case is the second case in which third-party opinions were solicited by way of this proceeding. For information on the first case where third-party opinions were solicited, please refer to our NO&T IP Law Update No.1, “Judgment rendered by the Grand Panel of the Intellectual Property High Court on May 26, 2023, regarding the Principle of Territoriality” (June 2023) and No.10, “Patents: – The Principle of Territoriality: Two Notable Judgments of the Supreme Court of Japan rendered on March 3, 2025” (March 2025).