(3)Intellectual property rights for websites
Article 10-1 of the Copyright Act does not contain any reference to websites in giving concrete examples of works. However, Article 2-1-1 of the
Copyright Act defines work as “a production in which thoughts or sentiments are expressed in a creative way and which falls within the literary, scientific, artistic, or musical domain.” Accordingly, if a website is
expressed in a creative way, it is thought to be protected as a work. When
requesting an outside party to prepare a website, it is important to clearly
state who the copyright belongs to. Care must also be taken to ensure that
information contained in websites does not infringe on the copyrights of
others.
2
Legislation concerning industrial property rights
“Industrial property rights” are afforded for the monopolized use of ideas, inventions, designs, and logo marks for industrial products, and to protect against imitations. These rights fall under the jurisdiction of the Japan
Patent Office.
The types of industrial property rights are summarized below.
Industrial
property right
Trade secrets
“Trade secrets” under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act include knowhow, customer lists, marketing manuals,
terms of business, and systems design
documents that have not been disclosed to the public. The term refers to
trade or technical information that is
managed within a corporation as a secret.
45
Related
legislation
Term of
protection
Patent rights
Ideas and inventions
Patent Act
20 years from
application
Utility model
rights
Idea or contrivance relating
to the shape or structure of
an article
Utility Model
Act
10 years from
application
Design rights
Design or decoration of an
article
Design Act
20 years from
registration
Trademark rights
Trademarks including marks
and product names that
denote a product
Trademark
Act
10 years from
registration
(Extendable)
3
Reference
Scope of protection
Unfair Competition Prevention Act
The “Unfair Competition Prevention Act” prescribes the regulations for
acts of unfair competition. Specifically, it deals with areas such as theft of
trade secrets and ideas, imitation of goods, and circulation of rumors in a
way that is disadvantageous to a competitor. When competition through
such unfair acts is neglected and permitted to exist, it erodes the principle
of fair competition in the market, which may cause confusion in the marketplace and result in significant damages to the consumers. Whereas intellectual property rights exist to protect proprietary rights, the Unfair Competition Prevention Act was enacted from the standpoint that such rights
only exist if a fair market has been secured. Accordingly, the purpose of
the Unfair Competition Prevention Act is to control illegal acts that are
detrimental to fair competition.