Japan’s economy has been in recession for many years. Since 2000, the number of patent applications has been declining. The reason is that even if corporate employees make major contributions such as inventions, the rewards they receive are minimal. Recently, Japan is planning to amend the Patent Law promulgated in 1921, intending to attribute service inventions in principle to the company to which the inventor belongs. This trend has aroused great concern and fierce debate in Japan.
The reason why this matter is so eye-catching is because of a patent dispute that has attracted great attention at home and abroad in Japan. Shuji Nakamura, who was originally engaged in scientific research and development at Nichia Chemical Company in Tokushima Prefecture, developed blue LED in the early 1990s. According to calculations by the Tokyo District Court, which subsequently heard the case, the benefits generated by this invention were as high as 120 billion yen, but how much remuneration did Nichia Chemical Company of Tokushima Prefecture pay to Nakamura? Many people almost convulsed when they heard it: a mere 20,000 yen, which is not enough to go to a restaurant for a meal! For this reason, Nakamura went to court with the company in 2001, demanding a payment of 20 billion yen. After repeated persuasion by the court, the two parties finally reached a "settlement" for 840 million yen. At the same time, there is news that the Patent Law will be revised, stipulating that the remuneration for employee inventors shall be determined through negotiation between the enterprise and the inventor.
But Nakamura obviously can no longer stay at Nichia Chemical Company. So he was angry and traveled east to the United States to engage in research. He currently teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014. This is the highest praise for Nakamura's scientific research achievements, because his invention not only brings huge benefits to the company, but also greatly reduces electricity consumption through the application of related products. On the occasion of winning the award, Nakamura disclosed his feelings: "Anger towards the company is the motivation for hard work. If you don't hold back your anger, you will not succeed at all." At that time, he was often called a "freeloader", and the boss of the company repeatedly humiliated him when they met: "Why don't you resign?" When he made major inventions and had disputes with the company, no Japanese company was willing to accept him!
Experiences like Nakamura's are by no means unique in Japan. It stands to reason that after enterprise scientific researchers make major inventions and transfer patent rights to the enterprise, the enterprise should reward them with sufficient strength. But in fact, the rewards received by Japanese corporate researchers are very pitiful. And various companies are still justified in this: without companies creating and providing sufficient scientific research conditions, scientific researchers cannot achieve scientific research breakthroughs alone. Furthermore, the company provides them with a stable environment of lifelong employment, which relieves them of worries. In addition, invention is not only the result of individual efforts, but the result of the joint efforts of a team. If the main inventor is heavily rewarded, what will happen to the others? Doesn’t this dampen the enthusiasm of most people?
Although Nakamura's company won the lawsuit, the Japanese business community felt a strong sense of crisis. They worry that if relevant legal regulations cannot be changed as soon as possible, it will be difficult to ensure that such disputes will not occur frequently in the future, and companies will be extremely annoyed. As a result, many companies and economic groups such as Keidanren continue to lobby the Japanese government, demanding changes to the Patent Law. After Abe came to power for the second time, he vigorously promoted the so-called "Abenomics". But if this policy mix is to be successful, it will need strong support from the financial sector. In order to reciprocate the favor, Abe must of course respond to the demands of enterprises. Therefore, in the newly issued basic policies on intellectual property rights in June 2013, the Japanese government clearly stated that it would “promote fundamental changes in the invention system.”
Japan’s economy has been sluggish for many years, and the lack of competitiveness among companies is a major reason. Among them, the number of patent applications has been declining since it peaked in 2000. The crux of this situation is that even if corporate employees make major contributions such as job inventions, they can only receive a small symbolic reward, which is not enough to stimulate enthusiasm for invention and creation. The profits generated by enterprises due to service inventions are often "excess profits", and the inventor's remuneration should account for a considerable proportion. Because, no matter how the cake is sliced, companies will take the lion’s share. The greater the reward, the more significant the effect. Enterprises' worries are obviously unnecessary. The United States can attract talents from all over the world because it unswervingly rewards those who have made outstanding contributions to innovation. Without innovation and breakthroughs, how can companies compete? It's really an "international joke" that they can get away with 20,000 yen.
Japan’s Patent Law has not experienced any institutional problems since its implementation for nearly a century, indicating that there is no need to change it. Looking back at history, the role played by this law cannot be underestimated in Japan's ability to catch up from a backward country and quickly become a powerful country. After Nakamura sued Nichia Chemical Industry Company, a senior American patent expert believed that Japan's patent system promoted corporate innovation. Originally, the Nakamura case could have a greater positive effect and encourage corporate researchers to innovate. However, the trend of the Japanese financial circle is contrary to this. Their starting point is obviously to "make up for the situation before it is too late to avoid future troubles" and prevent companies from being troubled by similar cases again.
In the past few years, in order to prevent companies from China and other countries from imitating its products and maintaining its product leadership, Japan has vigorously protected intellectual property rights and proposed the slogan of "building a country with intellectual property rights." But nowadays, when dealing with the job creation of employees of domestic companies, they only speak for the company and pay more attention to protecting the interests of the company. This not only has the flavor of "Ye Gong loves dragons", but is also obviously used as a guise to prevent other countries from catching up.
Although Nakamura's anger towards the company could not be expressed in words at the time, as time passed, Nakamura still hoped that the two parties could shake hands and make peace. Unexpectedly, Nichia Chemical Industry Company was still angry and refused, as if it was the other party who was at a loss. Insightful people in Japan are now particularly worried about whether the revised Patent Law will hinder or stifle the invention and innovation of enterprises? If so, what hope does Japan have?
ANNA