On November 11, the Japan Fair Trade Commission published a report concerning its investigation into transactions involving the intellectual property rights and know-how of small and medium enterprises. The survey revealed several problematic behaviors under antitrust law, such as clients coercively obtaining industrial data for free from these businesses. With the increasing utilization of big data, the importance of intellectual property and industrial data has surged, prompting the investigation to ensure that small and medium enterprises are not being treated unfairly.

The comprehensive survey involved a questionnaire distributed to over 40,000 companies across 91 industries, coupled with interviews from about 150 businesses and organizations. The findings indicated alarming trends, including cases where entities in the steel industry were pressured into providing data on machine operating hours and productivity without compensation, as well as instances in the printing industry where copyright transfers occurred at extraordinarily low prices. Furthermore, professionals reported dissatisfaction with the agreed-upon compensation for copyright transfers, especially when they felt that no forum for negotiation had been provided.

The implications of these findings are significant, as they suggest a potential widespread pattern of exploitation within specific sectors where small and medium-sized enterprises are at risk of losing value due to unfair practices. The Japan Fair Trade Commission's initiative to investigate these transactions aims to protect these businesses by ensuring compliance with fair trade laws, highlighting the need for more robust regulations to safeguard intellectual property in the face of growing market demands.