The subject of inventors' rights has recently generated much debate in Japan, with developments indicating the possibility of a shift of power favouring inventors. The story, in its most basic form, may sound familiar. The workhorse engineer, employed by a faceless corporation, makes an important invention. The corporation files an application in its own name and when the patent issues, garners huge profits. The inventor is rewarded with a mere pat on the back and a pittance. Not exactly Upton Sinclair, but the sense of exploitation is there. Yet, in the heyday of the Japanese economic boom, the days of feudalistic worker loyalty and guaranteed lifetime employment, this practice was accepted without question.
