Summary

　　　　　Active patent debates and enforcements under the current pro-patent circumstances reflect effective exploitation of patent including exclusion of competitors from the market, licensing and risk hedge. The patent strategies highlight the actual methodology of evaluating inventive idea and the importance of patent literature. It is important to obtain effective patents for exploitation, but earlier disclosure of inventive idea to the public bars patent acquisition, because under the first-to-file system, the disclosure of some invention to other public before filing a patent application is deemed to abandon an invention of patent acquisition. Tips for creating inventive idea, preparing specification and claims are explained. A statutory subject matter or patentable invention in Japan is a technical idea utilizing natural laws. The current patent law protects even computer program as product, even though it is an intangible article. The patent system protects computer program in terms of its inventive functions, even though it is an intangible article. Patent infringement litigations have become active so that doctrine of equivalents is often applied and an infringement litigation court can review validity of patent. A patent for a system using internet has raised issues relating to distributed processing, such as joint tort issue, cross border issue, not solved yet. Finally, patent attorneys play important roles in the pro-patent era.