The "IP Judgment Database" provides the English translation of judgments (full text/extract) and case summaries of the selected IP judgments rendered by the Supreme Court, the IP High Court, the IP divisions of Osaka High Court, Tokyo District Court, and Osaka District Court, and the former IP division of Tokyo High Court (prior to April 1, 2005).
The database offers the search result by entering following items.
Keyword search provides judgments which contain all the entered keywords such as legal issues (e.g. "inventive step", "similarity") and the names of the parties (e.g. "John Smith"). Enter a space between keywords when entering more than one. Please note that the keyword search is not case sensitive.
Select the court which rendered the judgment from the drop-down list.
If you know the full or partial case number of the judgment, you can find the case by entering the case number. Enter the 4 digit year number (Western calendar) in the left box, select the case code from the drop-down list in the middle box, and enter the specific number of the case in the right box.
For the brief explanation of the major case codes, please click here.
If you know the exact date of rendition of the judgment, you can find the case by entering the specific date in the boxes of the top row.
Period search is also available by entering the commencement date in the boxes of the "From" row and final date in the boxes of the "To" row.
Select the type(s) of litigation by clicking check box(es) to narrow the scope of search.
Brief explanations of types of litigation are as follows:
Administrative Litigation: Suits against appeal/trial decisions made by the JPO
Civil Litigation: IP-related civil cases such as infringement lawsuit
Preliminary Injunction: Tentative remedy granted by a court prior to a final determination of the merits
Other: Decisions on jurisdiction, protection order, etc.
Select the type(s) of right by clicking check box(es) to narrow the scope of search.
After entering the above items, click "Search" for the search results. The judgments (full text/extract) and case summaries are available in PDF files. (Full text is released only for highly important judgment)