Japan remains the world’s most attractive market for luxury products. Given the sheer size of the market, Japan is among the principal targets for the trade in counterfeit goods. Most of the counterfeit goods entering and circulating in Japan are sold through Internet auction websites.
A substantial proportion of well-known foreign brand goods sold on the Internet and mobile phone auction sites are fake. Yahoo!Japan, Rakuten and DeNA are the principal auction site operators in Japan and play a significant role in the fight against counterfeits. In the past few years, the Japanese authorities have also started to more pro-actively counteract violations of intellectual property rights. However, notwithstanding important legal improvements and encouraging results following intensified surveillance over the past years, crucial issues remain unresolved. The committee works to encourage the Japanese authorities to find solutions to deal with outstanding issues.