Japan has become very interested in the use of generative AI tools and services like ChatGPT at all levels of society including the national and local governments, business, industry, education, and the like. This article will examine the Japanese position of ChatGPT on patent and copyright ownership, validity, infringement liability, trade secrets, privacy and data protection issues. The authors also outline the best practices that enterprises doing business in Japan should adopt when using generative AI tools and services like ChatGPT in its business operations in the world’s third largest national economy. It also highlights the fast-breaking regulatory contributions that Japan is making at a national level and its current leadership role in formulating generative AI’s regulatory framework on a global basis.

Kensaku Yamamoto, Masahiro Hashimoto, Akito Honda and John A. Tessensohn

In a landmark ruling, the Intellectual Property High Court of Japan (IPHCJ) decided that the statutory safe harbour patent infringement exemption was deep enough to cover health regulatory clinical testing for “innovator” drugs and not only limited to generic drug makers in X v Amgen KK Case No. Reiwa 2 (ne) 10051 dated February 9, 2021. This article will examine this critical Japanese court decision’s impact on the biopharmaceutical industry in Japan, the world’s third largest national pharmaceutical market.

Kensaku Yamamoto, Akito Honda, Daisuke Kammera and John A. Tessensohn

On 2 March 2021, the Cabinet of the Government of Japan approved a Bill to amend the patent, utility model, design and trade mark laws. On 14 May 2021, Japan’s national parliament, the Diet, passed the Bill, and the legislative amendments were subsequently promulgated into statute law on 21 May 2021. This article discusses several of the important provisions that will greatly impact on the users of Japan’s patent and intellectual property legal system.

John A. Tessensohn and Shusaku Yamamoto