often prohibited, while local copies are produced and marketed at much lower prices than those demanded for their American counterparts. In such instances, American patents are simply ignored. Cases in Japan where patent infringement is charged, however, are far more complicated and subtle.
Underlying the differences in the patent laws of the United States and Japan are the philosophical differences between the two countries in the ways in which they approach the conduct of industrial businessùthe industrial policies of the countries. An industrial policy attempts to provide an economic environment which either (1) supports industrial development generally, or (2) promotes the development of specific industries or sectors of an economy. Such a policy might include (1) tax incentives to support either investment or exports, (2) subsidiesùdirect or indirectùto industrial firms or industries, (3) protection against foreign competition, (4) worker training programs, (5) fundingùfull or participatingùfor research and development, (6) grants and loans to support (a) regional development, (b) the development of specific industries, or (c) small business, (7) export financing, (8) loans and loan underwriting to support (a) exports, (b) specific sectors of a domestic economy, or (c) specific firms, (9) price supports, (11) anti-trust, (12) the coordination of industry, finance, and government to promote a specific industry or technology, (13) the pooling of technological innovation, and (14) related policies.
Most American economic writers, business leaders, and politicians contend that the United States does not have an industrial policy. Alan Webber, editorial manager of the Harvard Business Review reflected this perspective of an industrial policy as one that ôsmacked of Government-directed economic planning à a not too subtle device that would allow a bunch of over-educated do-good liberals to gather in a room in Washin...