On November 9, 2015, a total of six persons, including two judges of the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (CIPITC) and four students from Thammasat University, the winner of the mock trial regarding intellectual property and international trading held in Thailand, visited the IP High Court.

The mock trial was hosted by CIPITC and co-hosted by the Thailand Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), JETRO, and others. The winning university students received the opportunity to visit Japan in a study tour as their award, and as a part of the study tour they visited the IP High Court.

The visitors first observed oral arguments in Japan, and they received from a judge of the IP High Court explanations on the characteristics of the IP litigation system in Japan, the latest statistics, the relationship between the defense of invalidity and trials for invalidation, as well as an introduction of recent cases regarding trademark rights and copyrights.

After the explanations, a round-table discussion was held with the attendance of Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara and a judge of the IP High Court, where Chief Judge Shitara provided an explanation on the five-country mock trials regarding standard-essential patent (SEP) held in the symposium on April 20 of this year, and the judge of the IP High Court explained about the system for ensuring impartiality of judges and the judicial training system. The visitors also toured the Office of Judicial Research Officials, and engaged in a lively Q&A session.