On July 23, 2018, trainees (10 legal practitioners who deal with intellectual property rights from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Kenya) participating in the JICA Training Course titled “Improved Intellectual Property System for Promoting Economic Development” visited the IP High Court.
After observing an oral argument at court, the trainees were given an explanation by Judge Sumiko Sekine on the characteristics of patent litigation at the IP High Court, exclusive jurisdiction over patent lawsuits, two-phase proceedings for patent infringement suits, the judicial research official system and the technical advisor system, details of technical explanatory sessions, and the grand panel system. They also took part in an active question-and-answer session on various topics, including methods for judges to acquire expert technical knowledge, how judicial research officials and technical advisors get involved in each case, and the average time required for proceedings for IP-related cases. After that, the trainees paid a courtesy call on Chief Judge Makiko Takabe of the IP High Court and were given an explanation by a judicial research official on the roles of judicial research officials in IP-related cases.