Japanese business learns to protect patents

The Japan Times reports for decades US manufacturers lost market share while accusing Japanese manufacturers of patent violations. But now the tables have turned and it is the Japanese electronics firms that are defending their patents – mostly from low-cost competitors from other parts of Asia. Japanese companies learned a hard lesson when their innovations in electronic displays and DRAM chips were widely copied in the late 1980s and 1990s, according to Yoshiomi Ohara, general manager at patent mediator NGB Corp. As recently as 2000, Japanese corporations and individuals held only 453 878 internationally registered patents, according to the Japan Patent Office. At the end of 2003, however, there were 1.62 million, up 52% from the previous year. Full report in The Japan Times