Problems of American Patent Holders in Japan

Fusion Systems (United States) charges Mitsubishi (Japan) with patent infringement.1 Motorola (United States) sued by Hitachi (Japan) for patent infringement.2 These two cases, in which both an American and a Japanese firm sue a Japanese and an American firm for patent infringement illustrate the complicated character of the patent protection issue involving the United States and Japan. At the heart of the matter are significantly different approaches to the conduct of industrial business in the two countries, which, in turn, has resulted in patent laws in the two countries which are not compatible in most instances.3 Thus, an American patent holder anticipating Americanstyle intellectual property protection in Japan is usually in for a disillusioning surprise, while Japanese firms become more than a little annoyed when American patent holders refuse to settle infringement challenges in line with traditional Japanese business practice.

This research examines the patent protection issue involving the United States and Japan by addressing two questions. First, do Japanese firms honor American patents? Second, if Japanese firms do not, according to American business practices, honor American patents, what strategies do they follow to maintain the legality of their actions?Do Japanese Firms Honor American Patents?

The answer to the above question depends largely upon the perspective of the examiner. If the question is