The Dwango case ends with the court holding japan patent holders

The Supreme Court was pronounced on March 3 that, even if a company has servers abroad, it can still be held responsible for the services that violate the patents on the online video distribution obtained in Japan.

The president of Judge Koichi Kusano of the second small court of the court issued the first decision in this regard, saying: “If an activity that violates is carried out substantially in Japan, this is a violation of Japanese patent rights.”

The case was submitted by Dwango Co., the Tokyo operator of the Nico Douga Nico video sharing site.

Dwango has several patents related to a feature that displays comments that flow horizontally on a playback video.

The company has sued the FC2 Inc., based on the US, which offers a similar video service, seeking a decision and damage for breach.

Patent rights follow the principle of territoriality, which means they are only protected in the country in which they are registered.

In a strict interpretation, simply hosting servers abroad could allow companies to bypass the protection of Japanese patents.

However, the Supreme Court has adopted a more flexible approach, given the realities of online services.

The decision was unanimous among all four justices.

The second small bank said that allowing companies to bypass regulations by using overseas servers contradicts the purpose of patent right, which is to promote industrial development.

He decided that patent rights extend to activities that are “substantially carried out in Japan”.

The court added that the FC2 service was intended for Japanese users and that the location of its servers abroad was not a significant factor.

Given the potential economic losses to Dwango, the court concluded that FC2 violated patents.

FC2 claimed that he did not violate Japanese patent rights because his servers were located in the United States.

But the lower court has already rejected this request.

The intellectual property of the High Court was pronounced in favor of Dwango in two processes, ordering FC2 to stop its service and pay damages.

The decision of the Supreme Court confirms Dwango’s victory.

Following the decision, Dwango issued a statement, saying: “We have submitted lawsuits because we believe that the protection of Japanese technology is extremely important.”

“The decision of the Supreme Court that offers a clear guidance is extremely significant,” the company said.