On April 22, 2015, seventeen members of the delegation of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) visited the Intellectual Property High Court and had a meeting with the judges thereof to exchange views and opinions, to which the judges of the Intellectual Property Divisions of the Tokyo District Court also participated. AIPLA is an association established in 1897, and now has a membership of approximately 15,000 jurists who mainly handle matters related to intellectual property rights.

At the meeting, after the greetings from Ms. Sharon A. Israel, President of AIPLA and Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara of the IP High Court, Ms. Israel gave a presentation on recent movements toward new patent-related legislation in the United States entitled “Update on Patent-Related Legislation in the U.S.” and Mr. Joseph A. Calvaruso gave one on the situation of court decisions concerning patent eligibility of computer-related patents at lower instance courts after the United States Supreme Court’s judgment on the Alice case entitled “Update on Subject Matter Eligibility of Computer Implemented Inventions.” From the IP High Court, Chief Judge Shitara gave presentations on the characteristics of patent litigation in Japan such as active use of technical advisors and the system of settlement and also introduced the Grand Panel case of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Apple Japan LLC. The presentations were followed by a lively exchange of questions and answers between both sides, which extended beyond the predetermined time, concerning matters such as the current situation on the use of expert advisors and the state of the Double Track system in Japan, as well as the actual use of mediations in the United States and the anticipated impacts of the aforementioned legislation in the United States on business practices.