Part I
Civil Law 1
Case No. 1
Civil Law – Contract Law – Nullity of Contracts (Juristic Acts) due to a Violation of Mandatory Public Law Provisions
Supreme Court, 4 September 1997 with comment by Keizo Yamamoto
Case No. 2
Civil Law – Contract Law – Doctrine of Frustration –Change of Circumstances
Supreme Court, 1 July 1997 with comment by Frank Bennett
Case No. 3
Civil Law – M&A – Binding Nature of Letter of Intent – Obligation to Negotiate in Good Faith – Confidentiality Clause – Injunctive Relief
Supreme Court, 30 August 2004 – ‘Sumitomo Trust’ with comment by Jo¨rn Westhoff
Case No. 4
Civil Law – Contract Law – Breach of Contract – Damages – Liability for Acts of the Assistant
Daishin’in (Imperial Supreme Court), 30 March 1929 with comment by Gabriele Koziol
Case No. 5
Civil Law – Contract Law – Purchase Contract –Extinctive Prescription for Damage Claims Under the Warranty against Defects
Supreme Court, 27 November 2001 with comment by Kunihiro Nakata
Case No. 6
Civil Law – Case to Seek Return of Money Equivalent to Unjust Enrichment – Actio de in rem verso
Supreme Court, 19 September 1995 with comment by Masanori Fujiwara
Case No. 7
Civil Law – Tort Law/Contract Law – Liability for a Breach of Pre-contractual, Contractual and Non-contractual Information Duties – Liability of Experts – Claim for Damages
Supreme Court, 17 September 2005 with comment by Marc Dernauer
Case No. 8
Civil Law – Tort Law – Joint Tort Liability
Supreme Court, 23 April 1968 – ‘Sanno¯ River’ with comment by Colin P.A. Jones
Case No. 9
Civil Law – Tort Law – Product Liability Law – Claim for Damages
Nagoya District Court, 30 June 1998 – ‘McDonald’s Orange Juice’ with comment by Luke Nottage
Case No. 10
Civil Law – Contract Law – Improper Solicitation Transaction – Improperness of Solicitation of Transactions with Elderly People
Tokyo District Court, 25 August 1987 with comment by Makoto Arai
Case No. 11
Civil Law – Consumer Contract Act – Case That Decided whether Gold Futures Prices Are ‘Important Matters’ under the Consumer Contract Act
Supreme Court, 30 March 2010 with comment by Mihoko Sumida
Case No. 12
Civil Law – Contract Law – Consumer Credit – Documentation Requirements – Return of Unjust Enrichment
Supreme Court, 13 July 2007 with comment by Julius Weitzdo¨rfer
Case No. 13
Civil Law – State Compensation Law – State Liability – Extinctive Prescription
Supreme Court, 27 April 2004 with comment by John O. Haley
Case No. 14
Civil Law – State Compensation Law – State Liability – Extinctive Prescription
Supreme Court, 15 October 2004 with comment by John O. Haley
Part II
Labor Law
Case No. 15
Labor Law – Freedom Related to Hiring – Length of Probation Period
Supreme Court, 12 December 1973 – ‘Mitsubishi Ju¯shi’ with comment by Hans-Peter Marutschke
Case No. 16
Labor and Employment Law –
Duty to Work Overtime –Termination for Cause – Abuse of Right – Section 36 Agreements – Collective Bargaining Agreements – Work Rules
Supreme Court, 28 November 1991 – ‘Hitachi Factory Overtime’ with Supreme Court, 28 November 1991 – ‘Hitachi Factory Overtime’ with comment by Gerald Paul McAlinn & Mayu Terada
Case No. 17
Labor Law – Abuse of Employer’s Right to Transfer Employees
Supreme Court, 14 July 1986 – ‘Toa Paint’ with comment by Matthias K. Scheer
Case No. 18
Labor Law – Succession to Labor Contracts upon Company Split – Section 5 Consultations
Supreme Court 12 July 2010 – ‘IBM Japan’ with comment by Moritz Ba¨ lz
Part III
Corporate Law, Financial Regulation, Insurance Law
Case No. 19
Corporate Law – Book-Entry Transfer System for Shares – Minority Shareholders’ Appraisal Right – Requirement to Make Individual Shareholder Notice
Supreme Court, 7 December 2010 – ‘Media Exchange’ with comment by Hideki Kanda
Case No. 20
Corporate Law – Duty of Care – Greenmailing – Benefits Granted to Shareholders
Supreme Court, 10 April 2006 – ‘Janome Sewing Machine’ with comment by Curtis J. Milhaupt
Case No. 21
Corporate Law – Business Judgment Rule – Derivative Action
Supreme Court, 15 July 2010 – ‘Apamanshop’ with comment by Dan W. Puchniak & Masafumi Nakahigashi
Case No. 22
Corporate Law – Financial Assistance by Stock Corporation to Associated Corporation – Directors’ Duty of Care and Duty of Loyalty
Osaka District Court, 30 January 2002 – ‘Royal Hotel’ – with comment by Eiji Takahashi & Tatsuya Sakamoto
Case No. 23
Corporate Law – Director’s Remuneration – Pension-Type Remuneration after Retirement – Unilateral Cancellation by the Company
Supreme Court, 16 March 2010 with comment by Souichirou Kozuka
Case No. 24
Corporate Law – Absorption-type Merger – Fairness of Merger Ratio – Action Seeking the Invalidation of a Merger
Tokyo High Court, 31 January 1990 with comment by Masaru Hayakawa
Case No. 25
Corporate Law – Fraudulent Incorporation-type Company Split – Right of Creditors to Seek Avoidance and Request Compensation from the New Company
Tokyo High Court, 27 October 2010 – ‘Yuni PR KK’ with comment by Hiroyuki Kansaku & Moritz Ba¨lz
Case No. 26
Corporate Law – Company Split – Continued Use of Trade Name – Liability of Succeeding Company for Obligations of Splitting Company
Supreme Court, 10 June 2008 – ‘Ryo¯sen Golf Club’ with comment by Kiyoshi Endo¯
Case No. 27
Corporate Law – Absorption-type Merger, etc. – Appraisal Remedy – Determination of Fair Value
Supreme Court, 19 April 2011 – ‘Rakuten’ with comment by Hiroyuki Watanabe
Case No. 28
Corporate Law – MBO – Squeeze-out – Minority Shareholders’ Appraisal Right
Supreme Court, 29 May 2009 – ‘In Re Rex Holdings Co., Ltd.’ with comment by Maki Saito
Case No. 29
Corporate Law – Takeovers – Issuance of Share Options as Defense Measure – Principal Purpose Rule
Tokyo High Court, 23 March 2005 – ‘Livedoor’ with comment by Tomotaka Fujita
Case No. 30
Corporate Law – Takeovers – Defensive Measures – Equality of Shareholders
Supreme Court, 7 August 2007 – ‘Bulldog Sauce’ with comment by Hiroshi Oda
Case No. 31
Corporate Law – Constitutional Law – Political Donations by Companies – Legal Capacity of Companies – Purpose of Companies
Supreme Court, 24 June 1970 – ‘Yahata Seitetsu (III)’ with comment by Towa Niimura
Case No. 32
Banking Law – Definition of Banking – Meaning of ‘Funds Transfer’ – Legality of Money Transmittance Service on Behalf of Customer
Supreme Court, 12 March 2001 with comment by Souichirou Kozuka
Case No. 33
Insider Trading – Decision Regarding Carrying Out a Tender Offer – Decision-Making Organ
Supreme Court, 6 June 2011 – ‘Murakami Fund’ with comment by Markus Their
Case No. 34
Insurance Law – Non-Life Insurance – Accidental Nature of the Insured Event – Burden of Proof
Supreme Court, 1 June 2006 with comment by Gen Goto¯
Case No. 35
Insurance Law – Life Insurance – Claim for Payment – Exemption due to Intentional Cause of Death
Supreme Court, 3 October 2002 – ‘Daiichi Mutual Life Insurance’ with comment by Olaf Kliesow
Part IV
Intellectual Property and Competition Law
Case No. 36
Patent Law – Limits of Patent Rights – National and International Exhaustion
Supreme Court, 1 July 1997 – ‘BBS Car Wheels III’ with comment by Dirk Schu¨ssler-Langeheine and postscript by Christopher Heath
Case No. 37
Intellectual Property – Patent Law – Patent Infringement – Defense of Patent Exhaustion and Exceptions
Supreme Court, 8 November 2007 – ‘Canon Ink Cartridge’ with comment by Marc Dernauer
Case No. 38
Intellectual Property – Patent Law – Clinical Trials – Research Exception
Supreme Court of Japan, 16 April 1999 – ‘Clinical Trials III’ with comment by Klaus Hinkelmann
Case No. 39
Intellectual Property Law – Patent Law – Requirements for a Patent Term Extension of Pharmaceutical Patents
Supreme Court, 28 April 2011 – ‘Pacif Capsule II’ with comment by Marc Dernauer
Case No. 40
Intellectual Property – Patent Law – Interpretation of Patent Claims – Doctrine of Equivalents
Supreme Court, 24 February1998 – ‘Ball Spline Bearing III’ with comment by Atsushi Okada
Case No. 41
Intellectual Property – Patent Law – Employees’ Inventions – Company Rules – Reasonable Remuneration
Supreme Court, 22 April 2003 – ‘Olympus’ with comment by Anja Petersen-Padberg
Case No. 42
Intellectual Property – Patent Law – Employees’ Inventions – Reasonable Remuneration
Tokyo District Court, 30 January 2004 – ‘Blue LED’ with comment by Anja Petersen-Padberg
Case No. 43
Intellectual Property – Patent Law – Patent Infringement – Counterclaim of Invalidity
Supreme Court, 11 April 2000 – ‘Kilby (III)’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 44
Copyright Law – Time- and Space-Shifting Broadcast – Right of Reproduction
Supreme Court, 20 January 2011 – ‘Rokuraku III’ with comment by Tatsuhiro Ueno
Case No. 45
Copyright Law – Re-Broadcasting of TV Programmes – Public Transmission
Supreme Court, 18 January 2011 – ‘Maneki TV’ with comment by Tatsuhiro Ueno
Case No. 46
Copyright Law – Parodistical use – Right of Quotation – Fair Use
Supreme Court, 28 March 1980 – ‘Mad Amano’ with comment by Peter Ganea
Case No. 47
Copyright Law – Cinematographic Works – Distribution Right – Exhaustion
Supreme Court, 25 April 2002 – ‘Second-Hand Computer Games’ with comment by Peter Ganea
Case No. 48
Copyright Law – Future Works – Injunctive Relief – Enforcement of Copyright
Supreme Court, 8 June 1995 – ‘The Wall Street Journal II/III’ with comment by Christopher Heath & Takuya Iizuka
Case No. 49
Trade Marks – Registrability – Secondary Meaning – Three-Dimensional Marks
Intellectual Property High Court, 29 May 2008 – ‘Coca-Cola Bottle’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 50
Trade Mark Law – Similarity – Confusion
Supreme Court, 27 February 1968 – ‘Hyo¯zan’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 51
Trade Marks – Trade Mark Use – Confusion – Comparative Advertising – Well-Known Marks
Tokyo District Court, 24 March 1993 – ‘Type Chanel No. 5’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 52
Trade Mark Law – Abusive Registration of Well-Known Marks – Foreign Marks
Supreme Court, 11 July 2000 – ‘L’Air du Temps’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 53
Trade Mark Law – Parallel Imports – Identity of Goods – Licensing Agreement – Counterfeit Goods
Supreme Court, 27 February 2003 – ‘Fred Perry’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 54
Protection of Legal Interests Not Explicitly Recognized by Statute – Tort and Intellectual Property Law
Daishin’in (Imperial Supreme Court), 28 November 1925 –‘Daigaku-yu’ with comment by Guntram Rahn
Case No. 55
Copyright – Works of Applied Art – Law of Torts – Slavish Imitation – Unfair Competition Prevention – Designs
Tokyo High Court, 17 December 1991 – ‘Decorative Veneer’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 56
Publicity Rights – Personality Rights
Tokyo High Court, 26 September 1991 – ‘Oniyanko Club’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 57
Patent Law – Licensing Law – Exclusive Registered Licensee – Standing to Sue
Supreme Court, 17 June 2005 – ‘FlexX’ with comment by Jo¨rn Westhoff
Case No. 58
Antitrust Law – Price Fixing – Administrative Guidance – Fair Trade Commission
Supreme Court, 24 February 1984 – ‘Oil Cartel’ with comment by Ursula Eisele
Case No. 59
Antitrust Law – Concerted Behaviour – Cartels – Patent Pools
Fair Trade Commission, 20 June 1997 – ‘Pachinko Patent Pool’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Case No. 60
Antitrust Law – Unfair Trade Practices – Resale Price Maintenance – Private Enforcement
Supreme Court, 18 December 1998 – ‘Shiseido Cosmetics’ with comment by Christopher Heath
Part V
Conflict of Laws, Arbitration and Civil Procedure
Case No. 61
Infringement of a US Patent – Patent Law – Applicable Law
Supreme Court, 26 September 2002 –‘Card Reader’ with comment by Yuko Nishitani
Case No. 62
Claim for the Interdiction of an Arbitration Procedure: Law Applicable to the Legal Capacity of a Company – Adoption of an Arbitration Agreement – Doctrine of Separability of the Arbitration Agreement from the Main Contract
Supreme Court, 15 July 1975 with comment by Eva Schwittek
Case No. 63
Law Applicable to Maritime Lien
Takamatsu High Court, 30 April 1985 with comment by Yasuhiro Okuda
Case No. 64
Calculation of Lost Income of Foreign Victim because of Accident in Japan
Supreme Court, 28 January 1997 – ‘Bobby Maxdo’ with comment by Yasuhiro Okuda
Case No. 65
International Civil Procedure Law – State Immunity from Civil Jurisdiction – Restrictive Immunity Theory – Waiver from Immunity
Supreme Court, 21 July 2006 – ‘Pakistan’ with comment by Dai Yokomizo
Case No. 66
International Civil Procedure Law – Jurisdiction – Place of Business of Corporations
Supreme Court, 16 October 1981 – ‘Malaysia Airlines’ with comment by Anja Petersen-Padberg
Case No. 67
International Civil Procedure Law, Recognition of Foreign Judgments, Punitive Damages
Supreme Court, 11 July 1997 – ‘Northcon I’ with comment by Toshiyuki Kono
Case No. 68
Recognition – Enforcement – Foreign Judgment – Indirect Jurisdiction – Service – Public Policy – Mutual Guarantee
Supreme Court, 28 April 1998 with comment by Toshiyuki Kono
Case No. 69
Arbitration Law – Governing Law – Scope of Arbitration Agreement
Supreme Court, 4 September 1997 – ‘Ringling’ with comment by Felix Burkei
Case No. 70
Arbitral Award – Setting Aside – Appropriateness of Arbitral Tribunal’s Reasons not Examinable by State Court – Impact of New Arbitration Law
Tokyo District Court, 26 January 2004 with comment by Heike Alps
Case No. 71
Arbitration Law – Separability and Arbitrability – Terminated Contract
Intellectual Property High Court, 28 February 2006 with comment by Christopher Heath & Luke Nottage
Case No. 72
Disclosure of Documents for Internal Use
Supreme Court, 12 November 1999 with comment by Motoko Yoshida
