Negotiation and Litigation in Japan〔Mizuno Kenji Patent & Law〕

Whether or not an infringement had occurred needs to be judged legally and technical, so that it is necessary to ask an attorney at law or a patent attorney for a simple opinion. Such an opinion (judgment) is no more than an assertion of one party and has no influence on the calculation of the amount of damages etc. in litigation.

A negotiation process begins when an attorney at law starts acting as a counsel and sends a warning letter. In the case of Japan, companies strongly desire to avoid lawsuits as much as possible, however, many cases involve difficulties in proving the fact before filing a lawsuit.
Therefore, in the stages of negotiation, it is often difficult to reach a settlement with a large amount of settlement money.

A principle that a plaintiff is responsible to the claim and proof of the infringement is applied comparatively strictly. A collection of evidence that is conducted for the preservation of evidence or following an order to submit a document is limited, so in general, the case in which the evidence has to be sought cannot go into litigation.