Intellectual Property Rights Overview
Intellectual property rights are broadly divided into industrial property rights related to technology and copyrights related to the arts.
Industrial property rights*
- Patent: A new idea with industrial applicability, called an invention.
- Utility model: A new Idea regarding the shape and/or structure of articles, called a small invention.
- Design: A new shape or pattern of an item.
- Trademark: A mark intended to distinguish your company’s products and services from another company’s.
* The industrial property right system in Japan is based on a first-to-file principle (a right given to those who apply early to the Japan Patent Office).
Copyrights, etc.
- Copyright: An expression of thoughts or feelings.
- Integrated circuit layout: Layout of an integrated circuit.
- Trade name: The personal name or company name used to represent a legal personality.
- Prevention of unfair competition: Prohibition of use of substantially similar names, designs, marks, technologies, etc.
- Prevention of illegal imports: The legal recognition of infringement and suspension of infringing imports.
- Commercialization rights: The commercialization of fictional characters.
