From February 23 to 25, 2015, Judge Zhang Xiaojin, a presiding judge of the Second Trial Division in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court of the People's Republic of China, visited the IP High Court.
Judge Zhang was provided with an explanation by Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara of the IP High Court regarding a wide range of subjects, in which she showed keen interest, for example, the structure of the IP High Court, procedures of patent litigation, and the details of legal doctrines concerning patent infringement established through judicial precedents, such as the doctrine of equivalents and the defense of invalidity. During her three-day visit, Judge Zhang observed oral arguments and other proceedings in many cases in the IP High Court and the IP divisions of the Tokyo District Court, and received explanations on those procedures from judges of these courts. Judge Zhang and judges of the IP High Court engaged in a lively exchange of information and discussed the current situation regarding IP litigations in Japan and China, and the similarities and differences between those two countries in terms of court proceedings and the judicial system.