Abstract
In 2018, the Japanese government introduced protection of certain types of “big data” by revising the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. The necessity and the possible consequences of this globally novel type of protection was rather vigorously debated at that time, including at a conference at Waseda University at which Professor Hilty actively participated. This chapter aims to provide a recap of the background and the contours of the Japanese big data protection. Five years after the implementation, the impact of the Japanese protection of big data seems to remain limited, very much in line with the prognosis that Professor Hilty gave back at the time the legislative package was introduced. At the same time, the Japanese system of big data protection remains somewhat a unique policy instrument, especially when compared with the direction that European policy makers seem to be taking when it comes to the “promotion” of innovation in the area of data-driven artificial intelligence.
Prof. Dr. Christoph Rademacher, LLM (Stanford), Waseda University School of Law; Co-Director, Waseda University Research Institute for the Legal System of Intellectual Property (RCLIP).
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Notes
- 1.
Hilty (2018), p. 89.
- 2.
European Commission (2018), p. 9.
- 3.
See committee discussion reported by Yamauchi (2018), p. 22.
- 4.
Art. 12-2 Japanese Copyright Act.
- 5.
Tōkyō Chihō Saibansho [Tōkyō Dist. Ct.] Mar. 17, 2000, Hei 8 (wa) 9325, 1714 Hanrei-Jiho [Hanji] 128 (Japan) (Town Page Database case).
- 6.
Tōkyō Chihō Saibansho [Tōkyō Dist. Ct.] May 25, 2001, Hei 8 (wa) 10,047, 25,582; 1774 Hanrei. Jiho [Hanji] 132 (Japan) (interlocutory judgment) (Tsubasa System case).
- 7.
Chitekizaisan Kōtō Saibansho [Intellectual Property High Ct.], Jan. 19, 2016, Hei 26 (ne) 10,038 (Tabi NesPro case); Takabayashi (2022), p. 98.
- 8.
Fusei kyōsō bōshi-hō [Unfair Competition Prevention Act], Law No. 66 of 1990 (Japan) [hereinafter Unfair Competition Prevention Act].
- 9.
Art. 2(6) Unfair Competition Prevention Act (UCPA).
- 10.
The latter was enacted in 1986.
- 11.
Rademacher (2021), pp. 141, with further references.
- 12.
- 13.
Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2016 (in Japanese), pp. 12.
- 14.
Article 2–7 UCPA.
- 15.
Article 2 (1) (xi) UCPA.
- 16.
Article 2 (1) (xi) UCPA.
- 17.
Article 2 (1) (xii) UCPA.
- 18.
Article 2 (1) (xiii) UCPA.
- 19.
Article 2 (1) (xiv) UCPA.
- 20.
Article 2 (1) (xv) UCPA.
- 21.
Article 2 (1) (xvi) UCPA.
- 22.
Article 2 (1) (iv) – (x) UCPA.
- 23.
Such kind of detailed explanatory government guidelines are relatively common in Japan, in particular in the context of industrial property law.
- 24.
Guidelines on Shared Data, published on January 23, 2019; most recently revised in May 2022, available (in Japanese) at https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/economy/chizai/chiteki/guideline/h31pd.pdf.
- 25.
Ch. II, Subchapter 3.
- 26.
ibid.
- 27.
Conference on the Protection of Big Data in Asia, April 16, 2018.
- 28.
Takabe (2020), p. 307.
- 29.
METI (2023), p. 14.
- 30.
- 31.
Ueno (2021), p. 149.
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Rademacher, C. (2024). Japanese Big Data Protection as a Part of a Different AI Strategy. In: Thouvenin, F., Peukert, A., Jaeger, T., Geiger, C. (eds) Kreation Innovation Märkte - Creation Innovation Markets. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-68599-0_66
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