Legal Systems and Practice of Intellectual Property Protection in Japan and China: A Comparative Analysis

This article focuses on the legal systems and practice of intellectual property protection in Japan and China, including the relating civil litigation and administrative litigation procedures. The challenge of balancing the relationship between an invalidation trial and an invalid defense during the process of civil patent infringement litigation is a common issue to be solved in both Japan and China. In addition, it is quite usual that the IP products are being imported and exported across the borders due to the expansion of international trade. Accordingly, one of the most symbolic and difficult issues is how to balance the development of international trade and IP protection in each country. In other words, there is a practical issue regarding whether a parallel import of patented products is acceptable to a country or not. The key to determining this issue depends on the judgment of international exhaustion.