Project Activities

Kobe Conference: 27-28 October 2022

Kobe University hosted a two-day conference centred on pandemic preparedness and response through the lens of international and comparative law. The agenda included WHO Law, Japanese pharmaceutical and patent law, intellectual property mediation law, and disaster law. A key focus was the concept of the "Tragedy of the Anticommons" in legal frameworks, particularly in relation to intellectual property, contract law, disaster law, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The Project's PI, Professor Roy A Partain, explained that an 'Anticommons' occurs when several actors independently hold rights to exclude others from a shared resource, leading to its underuse or abandonment due to individual self-interest. Partain presented a new model of Anticommons that connects it to broader Social Choice Theory research questions; he also presented new mathematical foundations for Anticommons, enabling legal researchers to utilize new models that avoid the normative content of the field's previous reliance on microeconomic models. In the field of medical and pharmaceutical law, anticommons structures can impede the rapid development of medical and pharmaceutical solutions during emergency situations. Empirical research results on anticommons occurrences in these industries was presented and discussed. Experts from BIICL, Macquarie University, Maastricht University, Nishimura & Asahi Law Firm, Aomori Chuo Gakuin, University, Kobe University, and other Japanese institutions participated in the discussion, paving the way for collaborative research and policy development.

Sydney Research Collaboration Workshop : 6-7 November 2023

BIICL supported a two-day research workshop at Macquarie University Law School in Sydney, focusing on global health law and policy from an IP perspective. The event gathered a delegation of experts from across Japan, the UK, and Australia to discuss key challenges in developing and distributing medicines during pandemic events, with a case study on Japan's COVID-19 vaccine approach. The Project's PI for Japan, Professor Takeshi Maeda led discussions on IP law and their connections to anticommons theory. Relevant discussion topics presented, among others, by Professor Narufumi Kadomatsu (Kobe University Graduate School of Law) and Professor Akiko Kato (Nihon University, Department of Business Law) included IP sharing and access to medical products during health emergencies, conflict resolution and vaccine compensation schemes, and the role of indigenous medicine in IP rights. A significant part of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the new (draft) pandemic treaty, outlining its contents and exploring the challenges and opportunities it presents for future pandemic cooperation, including the possibility of temporarily waiving IP rights in the face of an emerging pandemic. The was event convened by Dr Constantinos Yiallourides and Dr Esther Erlings. More meetings will follow in 2024, with a book currently in development.

Relevant Publications 2022-2023 

• Akira NEGISHI, Masako WAKUI, Naoko MARIYAMA. (2022). Competition law and policy in the Japanese pharmaceutical sector. Springer.

• Hikari SAITO. (2023). 2023: COVID-19 Pandemikku to Wakuchin no Seizou: Chotei no Aratana Katsuyohoho (COVID-19 Pandemic and Vaccine Production: New Way to Utilise Mediation). Kokusai Shotorihiki Gakkai Nenpo (Annual Journal of Academy of International Business and Transaction).

• Ichiro NAKAYAMA. (2022). COVID-19 Pandemic ka deno Tokkyo Hogo to Iyakuhin Access wo meguru Giron no Shosou (Transforming Discussion over Patent Protection and Access to Medicine under COVID-19 Pandemic). In R. TAKABAYASHI. (Ed.), Nenpou Chitekizaisanhou 2021-2022 (Annual Reports of Intellectual Property Law) Nihon Hyoron Sha.

• Ichiro NAKAYAMA. (2023). COVID-19 Pandemic ni okeru Koshu Eisei to Tokkyo (Public Health and Patents in COVIS-19 Pandemic). Chizai to Public Domain I (IP and Public Domain) (pp. 401-442). Keiso Shobou.

• Ichiro NAKAYAMA. (2023). AI to Shinposei (AI and the Inventive Step). In Y. TAMURA. (Ed.), Chizai to Public Domain I (IP and Public Domain) (pp. 175-211). Keiso Shobou.

• Naoko MARIYAMA. (2022). Kyousouhou niyoru Koukakaku Settei no Kisei (Excessive Pricing in Competition Law). Kansai Economic Law Study Meeting.

• Naoko MARIYAMA. (2022). Koeki Shadan Houjin Kanagawaken LP Gasu Kyoukai ni yoru Haijosochimeirei Torikeshi Seikyuu Jiken (Case for cancelling a JFTC cease and desist order by Association of Kanagawa LP Gas). Kouseitorihiki, (Fair Trade), 855, pp. 60-66.

• Naoko MARIYAMA. (2022). Pay-For-Delay Agreements in Japan. In A. Negishi. (Ed.), Competition law and policy in the Japanese pharmaceutical sector, (pp. 139-157). Springer.

• Narufumi KADOMATSU, Kenji YAMAMOTO /, Naoki ODANAKA /, Aya KUBOTA. (Ed.), (2022). Shukusho Shakai ni okeru Hoteki Kukan（Space management in a shrinking society). Nihon Hyoron Sha.

• Narufumi KADOMATSU. (2022). Toshi Keikaku Sousho no Tokushitsu to Kadai (Aspects of and Tasks for Administrative Litigations concerning City Planning). In M. Okada. (Ed.), Gendai Gyoseiho Koza III (Book Series for Administrative Law III) Nihon Hyoron Sha.

• Narufumi KADOMATSU. (2022). Hanrei Kenkyu: Hansenbyo Kazoku Sosho (Case Review, Kumamoto District Court Sep.28, 2019( Hansen's disease patients family members case)). Shogai Ho (Disability Law), 6, pp. 141-148.

• Narufumi KADOMATSU. (2022). Legal Countermeasures against COVID-19 in Japan. Chia-EU Law Journal, 8, pp. 11-32.

• Narufumi KADOMATSU. (2022). Shigaichi Seibi 2.0 to Shigaichi Saikaihatsu Jigyo no Kokyosei (The "Urban Development and Improvement 2.0" and public interest). Toshi Mondai (Municipal Problems), 113(11), pp. 64-72.

• NooRi SE. (2022). Social turn and the Normalization of a Disaster: Legal Definition of Disaster and Vulnerability on Modern Disaster Research, a doctoral dissertation at Kobe University.

• Roy Andrew Partain. (2022). Creating Rights, Terminating Rights, Overcoming Legal Conflicts. Constitutional Review, 8(2), pp. 215-259.

• Roy Andrew Partain. (2022). Carbon majors, social choice, and anticommons: addressing climate change mitigation policy formation in the industrial sector. In Leonie Reins, Jonathan Verschuuren. (Ed.), RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION LAW, SECOND EDITION (pp. 457-481). Edward Elgar.

• Takafumi SUZUKI. (2022). Shohyokensya ga Mizukara Seizoushita Shohin no Heikouyunyu to Shohyokinoron (Parallel Import of Goods Manufactured by the Trademark Owner and Trademark Function Theory). Rokkodai Ronshu (Rokkodai Law Review), 68(2), pp. 67-84.

• Takafumi SUZUKI. (2022). Chosakushajinkakuken no Saikousei: Internet Jidai no Kadai to Kaiketusaku (Reconstruction of Moral Rights: Problems and Solutions in the Internet Era), Doctoral Dissertation (Graduate School of Law, Kobe University).

• Takashi YANAGAWA, Hiroshi TAKAHASHI, Shinya Ouchi. (Ed.), (2022). Econo-Legal Studies: Thinking Through the Lenses of Economics and Law. Springer.

• Takeshi MAEDA. (2022). Aratana Bijinesu Moderu to Tokkyo-ken Chosaku-ken Shingai no Songai-gaku Santei Jo no Kadai (New business models and issues in calculating damages for patent and copyright infringement.). Patento (patent), 75(11), pp. 35-55.

• Takeshi MAEDA. (2022). Koushutsu no Tokkyo ni yoru Kison Jigyo no Sashitome wa Yurusareru ka - Tokushu Parameta Hatsumei no Shinkisei Shinposei Kisai Yoken Sen-shiyou-ken no Kentou (Is an injunction against an existing business by a later patent permissible?-Novelty, Inventive Step, Description Requirement, and Prior User's Right of claims with Unique Parameter). Chizai Kanri (Intellectual Property Management), 72(8), pp. 899-911.

• Takeshi MAEDA. (2022). Collaboration Between the Patent System and Pharmaceutical Regulations for Drug-Discovery Innovation in Japan. In A. Negishi. (Ed.), Competition law and policy in the Japanese pharmaceutical sector (pp. 49-67).

• Takeshi MAEDA. (2022). 'Collaboration Between Japanese Patent Law and Pharmaceutical Law'. Aberdeen-Kobe JPR-Lead UKRI October 2022 Conference.

• Yuki OSHITA. (2023). Case Review, Fukuoka District Court Judgment, July 6 2020 (The Duty to Explain about the Daily Medical Care System at Schools for Special Needs Education / The Legality of Ministerial Ordinance Regarding the Injury and Accident Mutual Aid Benefit System). Gyoseiho Kenkyu, 48, pp. 139-175.