This story has received quite some attention on Japanese blogs, with the most extensive coverage at Trembling Leaf, and the first article by Hideo Ogura.
Nobuhiro Nakayama is a professor at Tokyo University and one of the leading Japanese academics in the field of intellectual property law.
As such he is a member of the Strategic Council on Intellectual Property set up by the Intellectual Property Basic Law of 2002.
However, it turns out that they aren't really listening to him.
And in a statement at the last session on December 17th, Nakayama has raised some angry criticism and said that there doesn't seem to be any point in continuing serving as a member. The transcript is available online, but there is no English translation.
The problem is: Decisions are not taken by the whole Council, but by some kind of subcommittee, where Nakayama isn't a member.
That in turn means that the Council isn't listening to him. Nakayama even found out first about the draft of the first "Strategic Program" by an article in the Nikkei newspaper, where it was leaked before he as a member of the Council received a copy. That does seem to be a rather surprising way to organize things. And if they are not listening to an academic of his class, they certainly won't give other interested lawyers, judges or academics any voice in the discussion.
So yes, this clearly raises some questions about the quality of the debate in the "Strategic Council on Intellectual Property".
Posted by Karl-Friedrich Lenz at January 17, 2004 11:28 AM | TrackBackHi everyone!
I am desperate to look for Nobuhiro Nakayama's e-mail or address because i need it badly! I am a junior lecturer from indonesia and i am one of Monbukagakusho applicants this year.
If you know any information where i could find it please contact me..
Thank you very much!
University of Tokyo Faculty of Law
7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-0033 Japan
Hope this helps.
Posted by: Karl-Friedrich Lenz on February 21, 2004 07:14 PM