# 不正競争防止法 / Unfair Competition Prevention Act — 第十五条 (Article 15) - Law: 不正競争防止法 (Unfair Competition Prevention Act), 平成五年法律第四十七号 - English title "Unfair Competition Prevention Act": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第十五条 (Article 15)（消滅時効） — address `art-15` - Text in force since: 2026-05-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第十五条（消滅時効） — (Extinctive Prescription) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-15 · https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15 **第一項** 第二条第一項第四号から第九号までに掲げる不正競争のうち、営業秘密を使用する行為に対する第三条第一項の規定による侵害の停止又は予防を請求する権利は、次に掲げる場合には、時効によって消滅する。 art-15/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-1 The right to claim suspension or prevention of infringement under the provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1) against the act of using trade secrets in the unfair competition stated in Article 2, paragraph (1), items (iv) through (ix) is extinguished by prescription in the following cases: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **一** その行為を行う者がその行為を継続する場合において、その行為により営業上の利益を侵害され、又は侵害されるおそれがある営業秘密保有者がその事実及びその行為を行う者を知った時から三年間行わないとき。 art-15/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-1/item-1 if the person conducting the act of infringement does so continuously, and the trade secret holder whose business interests have been or are likely to be harmed by that act does not exercise the right within three years from the time the holder becomes aware of the act and the identity of the person conducting it; and Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **二** その行為の開始の時から二十年を経過したとき。 art-15/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-1/item-2 twenty years have elapsed from the time the act in question began. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の規定は、第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号までに掲げる不正競争のうち、限定提供データを使用する行為に対する第三条第一項の規定による侵害の停止又は予防を請求する権利について準用する。この場合において、前項第一号中「営業秘密保有者」とあるのは、「限定提供データ保有者」と読み替えるものとする。 art-15/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-2 The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis to the right to claim the suspension or prevention of infringement under the provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1), against the act of using shared data with limited access in the unfair competition stated in Article 2, paragraph (1), items (xi) through (xvi). In this case, the term "the trade secret holder" in item (i) of the preceding paragraph is to be replaced with "the holder of shared data with limited access". Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-15/par-1: 第二条第一項第四号から第九号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第四号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (iv)), art-2/par-1/item-4 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-4 - art-15/par-1: 第二条第一項第四号から第九号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第五号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (v)), art-2/par-1/item-5 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-5 - art-15/par-1: 第二条第一項第四号から第九号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第六号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (vi)), art-2/par-1/item-6 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-6 - art-15/par-1: 第二条第一項第四号から第九号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第七号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (vii)), art-2/par-1/item-7 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-7 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-7 - art-15/par-1: 第二条第一項第四号から第九号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第八号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (viii)), art-2/par-1/item-8 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-8 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-8 - art-15/par-1: 第二条第一項第四号から第九号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第九号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (ix)), art-2/par-1/item-9 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-9 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-9 - art-15/par-1: 第三条第一項 → 不正競争防止法 第三条第一項 (Article 3, paragraph (1)), art-3/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-3/par-1 - art-15/par-2: 前項 → 不正競争防止法 第十五条第一項 (Article 15, paragraph (1)), art-15/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-1 - art-15/par-2: 第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第十一号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xi)), art-2/par-1/item-11 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-11 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-11 - art-15/par-2: 第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第十二号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xii)), art-2/par-1/item-12 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-12 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-12 - art-15/par-2: 第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第十三号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xiii)), art-2/par-1/item-13 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-13 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-13 - art-15/par-2: 第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第十四号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xiv)), art-2/par-1/item-14 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-14 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-14 - art-15/par-2: 第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第十五号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xv)), art-2/par-1/item-15 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-15 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-15 - art-15/par-2: 第二条第一項第十一号から第十六号まで → 不正競争防止法 第二条第一項第十六号 (Article 2, paragraph (1), item (xvi)), art-2/par-1/item-16 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-2/par-1/item-16 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-2/par-1/item-16 - art-15/par-2: 第三条第一項 → 不正競争防止法 第三条第一項 (Article 3, paragraph (1)), art-3/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-3/par-1 - art-15/par-2: 前項第一号 → 不正競争防止法 第十五条第一項第一号 (Article 15, paragraph (1), item (i)), art-15/par-1/item-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-1/item-1 ## Cited by 7 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 不正競争防止法 第四条第一項（損害賠償） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-4/par-1 - 不正競争防止法 第十五条第二項（消滅時効） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-15/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-15/par-2 - 不正競争防止法 第十九条第一項（適用除外等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-19/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-19/par-1 - 不正競争防止法 第十九条第一項第八号（適用除外等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-19/par-1/item-8 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/art-19/par-1/item-8 - 不正競争防止法 附則第四条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/suppl-4051-47/art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/suppl-4051-47/art-4/par-1 - 不正競争防止法 附則第二条第一項（不正競争防止法の一部改正に伴う経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/suppl-4301-33/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/suppl-4301-33/art-2/par-1 - 不正競争防止法 附則第二条第一項（不正競争防止法の一部改正に伴う経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/suppl-5051-51/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/405AC0000000047/suppl-5051-51/art-2/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 不正競争防止法 — the text in force from 2026-05-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/405AC0000000047/20260521_507AC0000000039), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Unfair Competition Prevention Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4920/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - This site's parser, version 189 — 不正競争防止法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11