Competition Corner

On January 8, 2026, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed U.S. company Seagate Technology LLC and its foreign entities—Seagate Thailand and Seagate Singapore—to move forward with their claims against Japanese company NHK Spring Co., Ltd. under United States antitrust (i.e., competition) laws. 

Semiconductors are critical components that form the foundation of virtually all modern technologies and industries, including computers, smartphones, consumer electronics, automobiles, and medical devices. Their global importance continues to grow. This blog provides an overview of recent legal developments in the semiconductor markets of Japan and the United States.

This post highlights key aspects of the Japan Freelance Act and compares them with relevant legal frameworks in the United States—particularly in California and New York—as well as in Europe with an aim to help businesses operating globally understand the important legal considerations when working with freelance workers across jurisdictions.

In recent years, the international community has increasingly focused on the importance of respecting human rights in corporate activities. This trend was driven in part by the United Nations’ adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, which accelerated the global movement towards holding companies accountable for human rights violations.

We are proud to launch a short series of blogs written by our current Japanese legal trainees—bengoshi who have completed U.S. LLM programs and are now training with Winston & Strawn LLP as part of their professional development.

In this episode of Winston & Strawn’s Competition Corner Podcast, Attorney Kevin Goldstein speaks with Tomonori Maezawa, a visiting attorney from Nishimura & Asahi in Tokyo, about hot topics in Japanese antitrust law and the latest developments in Japanese competition policy.

On December 25, 2020, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) implemented new procedures to protect confidential communications between an enterprise and its attorney from disclosure in administrative investigations of hard-core cartels. While this may appear to be the adoption of an attorney-client privilege in Japan, the newly announced protection is notably different from the privilege in the United States in several respects.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has increased our dependence on digital platforms more than ever, dominant platforms with significant market power continue to draw the focus of antitrust regulators around the world.

Japan’s Study Group on Competition Policy in Digital Markets (Study Group) recently published a Report on Algorithms/AI and Competition Policy (Report) to assist the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) with competition issues in the digital sector.

As part of an ongoing effort by the Japanese government to promote economic growth through open innovation, late last year, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) jointly released draft Guidelines on Business Collaborations with Startups.

Digital platforms are under ever-increasing regulation across the globe, with Japan being among the latest countries to pass new legislation concerning their operations. On May 27, 2020, the National Diet of Japan enacted the Act on Improvement of Transparency and Fairness in Trading on Specified Digital Platforms (the Act).

Since its enactment in 2004, Japan’s Whistleblower Protection Act has been criticized for being “toothless” and unable to adequately protect whistleblowers. On June 8, 2020, a long-awaited amendment was finally passed, providing greater legal protection for whistleblowers and strengthening corporate compliance requirements. The Whistleblower Protection Act applies to some antitrust violations (such as cartel and monopolization conducts) as well as other corporate misconduct that is subject to criminal punishment.

What do companies doing business in Japan need to know about antitrust enforcement? In this episode of Winston & Strawn’s Competition Corner Podcast, Antitrust Partner with Yukio Kaiju, a visiting attorney from TMI Associates in Tokyo, about recent developments in Japanese competition law and policy.

Following the recent overhaul of Japan’s leniency program, the Japan Fair Trade Commission has now released a set of proposed rules and guidelines changing the way confidential communications between attorneys and clients are treated – now providing some “privilege-like” protections, similar to the attorney-client privilege in the U.S., to companies under investigation for conduct that falls within the purview of Japan’s leniency system.