On May 11, 2015, international students from the overseas study program of the World Customs Organization (WCO) (19 customs officers from 18 countries worldwide) visited the IP High Court as a part of a lecture on “Border enforcement with regard to goods infringing intellectual property rights”, which is one of the subjects of the program.

The students were first given a brief overview of IP litigations in Japan from Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara, followed by explanations on highly specialized matters, such as outline of claim construction, defense of invalidity and the doctrine of equivalents in patent infringement litigations and the similarity judgment in regard to trademarks based upon specific trademark cases. The students responded by briskly asking questions including those regarding jurisdictions and the judicial research officials system available in the IP related cases. The students subsequently had an opportunity to tour the Court facilities with court official guides.