On November 9, 2017, fourteen members of the US Bar Liaison Council (the “Liaison Council”) visited the IP High Court, and exchanged views with judges of the IP High Court and the Intellectual Property Division of the Tokyo District Court.
At the session, after opening remarks by Chief Judge Misao Shimizu and Mr. Raymond Farrell, Chair of the Liaison Council, Judge Shingo Okada explained the functions of the IP High Court.
Then, members of the Liaison Council, Mr. Koichiro Nakamura, Mr. Trevor Hill and Mr. John Pegram delivered presentations, focusing on the Lexmark case judgement regarding patent exhaustion rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2017, recent precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court and CAFC (the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), cases that are currently receiving attention, and recent trends of the doctrine of equivalents. From the IP High Court, Judge Akira Katase delivered a presentation entitled “Patent Exhaustion in Japan ～Compared to the Lexmark Case～,”(PDF19789KB) comparing Supreme Court judgements of the United States and Japan with regard to patent exhaustion. Following those presentations, Judge Tatsubumi Sato, as the moderator, promoted questions/answers and discussions among participants by posing questions regarding patent exhaustion based on a hypothetical case. They vigorously discussed and exchanged questions/answers also on other topics, including the application of estoppel in relation to the doctrine of equivalents.