Under the revised Patent Law, the subject of the court order to produce evidence has been extended from only documents to all materials in the process of a suit for patent infringement, and thus one can use various electronic recording media in addition to documents as evidence.

Also, under the revised Patent Law, even if the subject materials evidence demanded in the court order correspond to a trade secret, one cannot refuse submission of such materials in a case where it is positively necessary for verification of infringement or calculation of the damage amount. If the concerned party fails to follow the court order to produce evidence without a valid reason, the court shall be able to admit that the opponent’s argument regarding the pertinent materials is truthful.

(Effective from June 30, 2016)