Reconsideration of the Rationale for Disgorgement of Profits : From Monism to Pluralism

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13552
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 05060:Civil law-related
• Research Institution: Otaru University of Commerce
• Principal Investigator: Hashimoto Shin 小樽商科大学, 商学部, 准教授 (20803703)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 利益吐き出し / 理論的根拠 / 人格権 / ハノック・ダガン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

How to legally respond to the act of acquiring profits by infringing on the rights and interests of others is becoming an issue not only in Japan but also worldwide. This study addressed the theoretical issue of the “disgorgement of profits” doctrine used in such cases. Specifically, this study, based on comparative legal considerations, argues that the view that attempts to justify “disgorgement of profits” centrally as a sanction or deterrence against an infringer, which is the conventional view, is insufficient, and that a “pluralistic rationales” is necessary depending on the context in which disgorgement of profits is an issue, and that, in doing so, it is important to consider that, unlike the conventional argument, we should also consider basing disgorgement of profits on the plane of specific performance.

Free Research Field

民法

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来から「利益吐き出し」法理の必要性は説かれ、一定の議論の蓄積は見られたものの、この問題領域の横断的な研究は十分にはなされてこなかった。その中で本研究は、包括的な研究を行い、従来の議論では一元的な根拠づけを所与の前提となりつつあった根拠論について多元的な根拠論を指摘し、かつ（90年代後半から既に存在していたものの）従来の議論では注目されることがなかった特定履行救済として利益吐き出しを説く見解について注目し、わが国の今後の利益吐き出しの議論の底上げを図った。また、人格的権利との関係では、自由な譲渡性を制限しつつも、侵害された場合の利益吐き出しの根拠づけも試みた点は社会的意義もあると考える。