The Unfair Competition Prevention Act (不正競争防止法) regulates conduct that undermines fair competition between businesses, such as stealing and using another company's trade secrets or imitating its well-known product marks so that customers confuse the two.
Examples of conduct regulated by the Act
Wrongfully acquiring, using or disclosing trade secrets
Causing confusion by imitating well-known product marks
Acquiring or using domain names for wrongful purposes
Providing tools that remove technical restrictions such as copy protection without a legitimate reason
Unlike patent or trademark rights, it requires no registration and instead regulates the specific types of wrongful conduct the law defines. A trade secret here means technical or business information used in operations, such as a customer list or manufacturing know-how, that meets the legal requirements. The rules on shared data with limited access (限定提供データ), which protect data provided to specific parties, were revised by the Reiwa 5 (2023) amendment so that what is excluded from their scope is now trade secrets.
AnalogyIt is like a referee who hands out no prizes but blows the whistle on players who commit fouls.
Exam points
ExamInformation protected as a trade secret (営業秘密) must meet all three requirements: secrecy management (it is kept as a secret), usefulness (it helps the business), and non-public status (it is not publicly known).
ExamAcquiring or using a domain name similar to another company's name for a wrongful purpose, or selling a program that disables copy protection without a legitimate reason, is regulated by the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (不正競争防止法).
ExamUnder the provisions before the Reiwa 5 (2023) amendment, technical or business information accumulated and managed in substantial volume by electromagnetic means for provision to specific parties, and not managed as a secret, is called shared data with limited access (限定提供データ).
A Use License Agreement (使用許諾契約) is a contract in which the software rights holder grants the user a right of use and sets the scope and conditions of that use.
Rights holder sets the terms
Terms shown to the user
User agrees
Use within the terms
The user runs the software within the terms, such as the permitted number of machines and purposes.
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The agreement states terms such as how many machines the software may be installed on, whether it may be copied, and what purposes it may be used for. A shrink-wrap agreement treats opening the package as acceptance of the terms.
AnalogyIt is close to renting a flat: you can live there, but you do not become the owner of the building.
How to rememberShrink wrap is the clear film wrapped around a product, and tearing it open is the signal of agreement.
Exam points
ExamA person who buys a software package gets the right to use the program, while the copyright stays with the rights holder.
ExamUnder a shrink-wrap agreement (シュリンクラップ契約), the contract is formed when the package is opened, whether or not the user has read the terms.
ExamPatents are also licensed for use of the invention (called working it), and cross-licensing (クロスライセンス) is an arrangement in which two patent-holding companies each license the other to work their own patents.
A Volume License Agreement (ボリュームライセンス契約) grants a company or school that runs the same software on many PCs the right of use for the number of copies it needs, all at once.
Compared with buying packages one at a time, it reduces the work of purchasing and managing them. How licenses are counted differs by product and agreement.
AnalogyIt is like buying a booklet of canteen meal tickets for the whole staff instead of one ticket at a time.
How to rememberVolume means quantity, which tells you this agreement bundles licenses by count.
Exam points
Mix-upA volume license (ボリュームライセンス) grants rights of use in bulk by quantity, while a subscription (サブスクリプション) is a way of using software for a set period in return for a fixed fee.
A Site License Agreement (サイトライセンス契約) permits use of the software anywhere within the organization or facility set in the contract, such as a company or school, without counting machines one by one.
Even if more PCs come into use within the covered scope, no individual extra purchases are needed. For organizations whose number of machines changes a lot, it cuts the work of tracking license counts.
AnalogyIt is close to booking an entire venue so that everyone inside can come and go freely, instead of each person buying a ticket.
How to rememberRemember that site here means a physical location or premises, not a website.
Exam points
Mix-upA site license (サイトライセンス) bundles permission by the scope of an organization or facility, while a volume license bundles it by the number of licenses.
Volume License Agreement vs. Site License Agreement
Aspect
Volume License Agreement
Site License Agreement
Key differenceUnit for bundling permission
Number of licenses (copies)
Scope of the organization or facility
When more machines are used
Contract for the additional number needed
No extra contract needed within the scope
What they share
A Use License Agreement bundled for large-scale use
A Use License Agreement bundled for large-scale use
A CAL (Client Access License) is a license granting access rights, required for each client that connects to server software.
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CALs are prepared according to the number of parties using the server. How they are counted depends on the product, for example per user, where each connecting person is the unit, or per device, where each connecting machine is the unit.
AnalogyIt is like issuing an entry pass for each person who enters a building.
How to rememberIt stands for Client Access License, which reads as permission for a client to access the server.
Exam points
Mix-upA server license permits installing and running the server software, and a CAL is the permission given to each client that connects to that server; both are needed before the server can be used.
Key points
The Unfair Competition Prevention Act requires no registration and regulates conduct such as misusing trade secrets and imitating product marks.
Buying software does not transfer the copyright; the user gains the right to use it within the terms of the Use License Agreement.
A CAL is a license prepared according to the number of connecting clients, and how it is counted differs by product.