「知財管理」誌
「知財管理」誌 検索
| 掲載巻(発行年) / 号 / 頁 | 1巻(2001年) / 1号 / 19頁 |
| 論文区分 | 論説 |
| 論文名 | Entities Entitled to claim an Injunction and Damages for an ACT ofImitationg Configuration of Goods, under the Unfair Competition Prevention Law |
| 著者 | フェアトレード委員会 |
| 抄録 | In 1993, the Unfair Competition Prevention Law in Japan was revised extensively. The 1993 revision newly added acts of imitating product configuration as unfair competition acts. This paper analyzes in details a ruling of the Tokyo District Court that, for the first time, clearly stated which en-tities are able to claim injunctions and damages for acts of imitating the configuration of goods. This paper also considers, on the basis of this ruling and from the standpoint of actual enterprise affairs, legal aspects on the scope of claimants for civil relief such as an injunction and damages and practical implications on business. In this case, the plaintiff (X) is an exclusive importer and seller within Japan of a caddy bag (product X) developed by a U.S. golf goods manufacturer. Stating that the configuration of a caddy bag (product Y) sold by Y (the defendant) was an imitation of the configuration of product X, the plaintiff alleged that such imitation came under Article 2, Paragraph 1, No. 3 setting forth that such is an act of imitating goods configuration. The plaintiff claimed an injunction to stop sales by Y of product Y having the configuration in question and damages. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the claim, based on the finding that claimants eligible for an injunction and damages under the law were limited to entities which had actually developed, mer-chandized, and placed on the market themselves the good which was the object of imitation. On ap-peal, the appeal court rejected the appeal for almost the same reasons as the district court. The court’s ruling follows the prevailing interpretation of the law with regard to the claimant of relief under the law. When one is to import and sell a product of an overseas manufacturer in Japan, it is necessary to, at the very least, impose duty on the licensor (or exporter) in the agreement, an arrangement to exclude the imitations of product designs. |
