The Japan Fair Trade Commission has moved from publishing guidance on intellectual property, know-how and data dealings to checking how businesses behave. On October 9, 2026 it announced a survey and said it would mail request letters that day to 50,000 businesses, asking them to complete a web questionnaire by November 5.
What the survey covers
The questionnaire targets conduct that the JFTC's IP transaction guidelines flag as potentially problematic under the Antimonopoly Act. It asks for the view of both sides, the party placing the order and the party receiving it. For procurement and legal teams, that means the same practice can be reported from either end of a supply chain.
The JFTC frames the issue as one of unequal bargaining. Under the Antimonopoly Act, abuse of a superior bargaining position generally means a party using its stronger position to impose unfair terms on a counterparty. The commission says IP, know-how and data are a source of growth for small and mid-sized companies. It warns that large companies taking them for nothing or at low prices could damage those firms' management resources, entrench gaps between businesses and stunt innovation.
Where it fits
The release traces the commission's earlier steps. It ran a fact-finding survey in September 2025 and published a report in March 2026. On June 24, 2026 it issued guidelines on appropriate transactions in IP, know-how and data, together with a model contract template. Tokyo Brief has covered related JFTC guidance on unpaid know-how. This survey is a separate step: it gathers data on practice after the guidelines were published.
What happens next
The JFTC says it plans to hold hearings with relevant businesses after reviewing the survey results, and to publish the findings. It also plans to send cautionary letters to businesses where it finds conduct that could lead to Antimonopoly Act problems.
The release does not set a date for the hearings or the published findings. It also does not say how respondents were chosen. A survey launch is not a finding of violations or a new prohibition, and the cautionary letters are a step the JFTC says it plans, not one it has taken.