Can eCommerce platform provider require shops to offer free shipping?
Free shipping

Japanese eCommerce platform provider Rakuten announced in the summer of 2019 that free shipping will be offered for purchases over 3,980 JPY (about 36 USD). Rakuten is expecting to achieve this by asking the shops on their platform to bear the shipping costs.  Rakuten is explaining the intense competition with Amazon and others, and asking for […]

IPwe in Patent Information Fair & Conference in Japan
IPwe in Patent Information Fair

IPwe made a joint appearance with Toshiba at Patent Information Fair & Conference which was held in Tokyo on November 6-8, 2019.  We WATANABE Research & Consulting do marketing in Japan for IPwe. In this fair, we introduced the IPwe platform. It is the first artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain enabled patent transaction platform.  IPwe and Toshiba […]

IPwe特許取引プラットフォームのページを用意しました
IPwe Platform

AIとブロックチェーンを使った世界初の特許取引プラットフォーム、IPweプラットフォームの概要、アカウントの作成方法や特許売却/ライセンス・プログラムの作成方法を掲載したページを用意しましたので、是非こちらからご覧ください。

Japan’s blockchain enabled next-generation financial transactions to start in 2020
Blockchain enabled next-generation financial transactions - Progmat

Japan’s blockchain enabled next-generation financial transactions are planned to start in 2020. On November 7 2019, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), the second largest in trust business in Japan, announced the establishment of the Security Token Research Consortium consisting of 21 companies, and the development of next-generation financial transaction services using blockchain technology. […]

Partners with IPwe to introduce the patent transaction platform to Japan
IPwe Platform

We are delighted to announce the partnership with IPwe to introduce their unique patent transaction platform to Japan. IPwe created the first platform for the world’s patent ecosystem, connecting buyers and sellers of patents and patent-related services, creating a tradable asset. IPwe leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, predictive analytics and blockchain to […]

Japan to consider regulating GAFA under the secrecy of communication

The previous article covered a failure of legislation for piracy website blocking due to legal considerations of constitutionally guaranteed secrecy of communication. Now the secrecy of communication is likely to apply to foreign platform providers, especially to big tech companies called GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple), according to a draft document distributed in an advisory committee […]

Platform providers should pay attention to the moves of Japanese regulations

In Japan, a platform business has been considered just a vehicle for service providers and users, and assumed no responsibility. However, in response to recent trends in regulations on platform businesses (e.g. against Google) in Europe, Japan has commenced studies toward tightening of regulations since July 2018, and published the draft interim report on November […]