일본의 특허권침해소송에 관한 절차적 검토

Patent Infringement Litigation in Japan

Recently both Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. are filing suit concerning the patent related to smartphone and tablet PC. (More than 50 cases are pending in nine countries including the United States, Germany, Australia as well as South Korea.) Both parties are seemingly shopping their fora depending characteristics of patent litigation of respective countries (for example, taking the discovery, jury trial, and calculating damages in the American litigation system into consideration) before claiming the breach of certain patent. Comparative approach is substantially meaningful in that the litigation system of each country has been established upon its own legal structure, history and culture. In this regard, this article deals with the litigation procedure of patent infringement in Japan inspired by the lawsuit of the patent infringement between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics in Japanese Court.