翻訳コラム

コロナ禍の現状では、人間の知的資産である知財が重要性を増すということを再三述べてきました。現在のように飛行機による移動が考えられず、ウエブ会議、リモートワークが主流の今日、物理的な保管場所が必要にならないアイディア、創作が増えると予想されるからです。
今後は、企業の設備を必要とする職務発明よりも、個人発明家によるアイディアに基づく発明が増えると予想します。海外に対するこれらの特許出願も増えるでしょう。米国には自宅のパソコンからでも特許出願できるからです。
会社員の副業が進む中、ライターを副業として考える人が多いと聞きます。
つまりコロナ禍では、企業や個人にとって究極の財産は知的財産であると考えます。しかし、一方では、コロナ禍で知的財産の侵害が増えてきました。たとえば、以下の事件です。

「コロナで売り上げ落ちて」商標法違反容疑で男性書類送検 (神奈川新聞社)
https://www.kanaloco.jp/news/social/case/article-360285.html

「Supreme」という商標のバッグが販売されています。商標登録第5,962,016号「Supreme」((株)Supreme所有)の商標権を侵害すると予想します。

コロナ禍で売り上げが落ち、知財の侵害に走ってしまう、という循環も起こっています。
知財は、経営状況が苦しい中でも生み出されやすい財産であり、他方で侵害されやすい財産でもあります。無体の財産権であり、容易に模倣することが可能だからです。

I have mentioned on several occasions that with the current state of the COVID-19 crisis, the importance of intellectual property, i.e., people’s intellectual assets, will increase. This is because today, when air travel is unthinkable and web conferencing and remote work are the norm, we can expect to see more concepts and creations that do not require physical storage.

In the future, we expect to see an increase in inventions based on ideas by individual inventors, rather than inventions made by employees that require corporate facilities. There will also be an increase in the filing of such patent applications overseas. This is because it is possible to apply for a patent in the U.S. from your home computer.

With the acceleration of side jobs for company employees, I hear that many people are considering writing as a side job.
In other words, during the COVID-19 crisis, the ultimate asset for companies and individuals is considered to be intellectual property. However, on the other hand, intellectual property infringements have been increasing during COVID-19. The following case is one example.

“Sales were dropping due to COVID-19” Man referred to prosecution on suspicion of violating trademark law(Kanagawa Shimbun)
https://www.kanaloco.jp/news/social/case/article-360285.html

Bags with the trademark Supreme are being sold. It is expected that these will infringe the trademark registration No. 5962016, “Supreme” (owned by Supreme).

There is also a cycle of falling sales due to COVID-19, which leads to infringements of intellectual property.
Intellectual property is a type of asset that can easily be created, even when business is struggling—thus, it is also an asset that can easily be infringed. This is because intellectual property is an intangible property right and can easily be imitated.