Context: Last week we reported on the Tokyo District Court’s new standard-essential patent (SEP) guidelines (January 21, 2026 ip fray article).
What’s new: A new Nikkei report (of today) says the Tokyo District Court will put a FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing) mediation system in place as early as next month, offering to broker global SEP license agreements with a six-month target date. Each mediation panel will consist of one judge and two other members, who could be lawyers. There will be a maximum of three rounds.
Direct impact & wider ramifications:
- There may very well be significant demand for this new mediation service from Japan, a country that is home to major SEP holders as well as large-scale implementers of standards.
- Internationally, however, there are not only various private mediation options but also the SEP mediation program of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and in June the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC) of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will open its doors.
No official announcement has been made, but Nikkei is generally regarded as a reliable source.