The Japanese Unfair Competition Law prohibits a number of different types of unfair competition including acts of "using an indication of goods which is identical with or similar to another person's identification of goods which is widely recognized among users and thereby causes one person's goods or business to be confused with another's". Indications of goods are defined as including "goods, containers or packages related to a person's business". The application of this provision to product configuration was considered by the Tokyo District Court in considering an application for a preliminary injunction in Apple Computer Inc. v. Sotec Corporation. The product in question was Apple's iMac computer which went on sale in Japan in August 1998. The defendant's product was announced in July 1999. The judge found that both it and the defendant's computer had blue and white semi-transparent plastic coatings and rounded all in-one designs. The judge also found that the iMac design had striking originality, the product had been a commercial success and that advertisement of the product had put emphasis on its design. Under such circumstances the configuration of the product could be a protectable indication of goods under the Unfair Competition Law. A preliminary injunction was granted.

The case has attracted considerable attention as a result of the speed with which the injunction was granted, a mere 28 days from the filing of the suit with only one hearing. The defendants have complained that they were given insufficient opportunity to defend themselves. The court's comment was that when someone starts production of goods that may be an infringement of another's rights it "should study the legitimacy of its act from a legal point of view" and "be prepared for possible lawsuits" and have its arguments and evidence ready should such a suit occur.