On October 21, 2014, a session of the International Bar Association (IBA)’s Annual Conference entitled "FRAND Declaration - is it a gentleman’s agreement?", presented by the IBA’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee and Litigation Committee, took place at the IP High Court. The IBA is the world's largest international bar association, established in 1947, with bar associations and legal practitioners from around the world as its members. Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara participated in this session as a speaker.

Chief Judge Shitara gave a presentation entitled, "Litigating standard-essential patents in Japan," in which he provided a briefing and commentary on the case decided by the Grand Panel of the IP High Court on May 16, 2014 (in which the court issued a ruling on the permissibility of exercising a right to claim damages based on a standard-essential patent subject to a FRAND declaration, and determined the amount equivalent to royalties for a FRAND license), and explained differences and similarities between this case and analogous cases in other countries. The other speakers at this session were: Ms. Eileen Lach, General Counsel for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; based in the United States); Dr. Michael Froehlich, Senior Director at BlackBerry Germany, and Chairman of the AIPPI Special Committee on "Patents and Standards"; Mr. Steven Crown, the Vice President of Microsoft Corporation; Dr. Ralph Nack, a German attorney well-versed in EU FRAND issues; Ms. Sue Gilchrist, an attorney who has experience handling a similar FRAND case in Australia; and Mr. Eiji Katayama and Mr. Seiji Ono, attorneys who represented the respective parties in the Grand Panel case. All of the speakers addressed the common topic: standard-essential patents under FRAND declarations. They gave high-level presentations focusing on practices in the United States, the EU, Australia and Japan, providing multilateral professional perspectives from the standpoint of standard-setting bodies, industry and litigators. This session was attended by more than 70 individuals, mainly attorneys from countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and other parts of the world, as well as IP High Court judges. The presentations were followed by a lively Q and A session between the participants and the speakers and also discussions among the speakers until the end of the available time.

Before the session started, more than 40 interested participants were given a tour of the IP High Court by Judge Asayo Ohyori, who gave an overview of the courtroom and of the composition of the Grand Panel. The tour participants asked many questions on a wide range of subjects, such as methods of collecting expert knowledge and other IP High Court procedures, and the binding force of the court’s rulings, to which Judge Ohyori responded in detail.