 The courts have been very reluctant to follow this approach, emphasising the materiality of the criminal element required for these damages to be considered.German courts do not award punitive damages and do consider foreign punitive damages unenforceable to the extend that the payment would exceed the damages plus an allowance for reasonable defence costs big enough so that the plaintiff would get a full reimbursement of its loss but not more.Japanese courts do not award punitive damages as a matter of public policy, and Japanese law prohibits the enforcement of punitive damage awards obtained overseas.