Supreme Court of Japan Recognizes Extraterritorial Application of Patent Rights (Dwango v. FC2 Case)

March 23, 2025

This article provides a brief overview of a recent Supreme Court decision in Japan that recognized the extraterritorial application of patent rights.

The case involved a patented invention relating to a video distribution system comprising a terminal and a server (specifically, a comment delivery system). The dispute arose over whether the defendant’s system, whose server was located overseas, infringed the Japanese patent.

In the first instance, the Tokyo District Court ruled that there was no infringement, citing the principle of territoriality of patent rights.
However, the Intellectual Property High Court overturned the first instance decision, holding that the patent could be enforced extraterritorially against a video distribution system targeted at users in Japan, and found infringement of the Japanese patent.

The defendant appealed to the Supreme Court.
On March 3, 2025, the Second Petty Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the IP High Court’s judgment, confirming that the defendant’s acts constituted direct infringement of the Japanese patent. The Court ordered the defendant to cease distribution and to pay damages.

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