On the evening of April 13, 2015, Chief Judge Shitara of the IP High Court addressed a seminar co-hosted by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (“CIPA”) of the U.K. and the Intellectual Property Lawyers Network Japan, entitled “Recent Developments in Patent Litigation in Japan” at the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

Chief Judge Shitara’s speech, delivered in English, was comprised of three topics: (1) a discussion of the characteristic features of Japan’s patent litigation, notably settlement procedures in Japan, as well as the specific substantial winning rate of patent holders including cases that concluded by settlements, (2) an introduction and explanation of the IP High Court’s May 16, 2014 Grand Panel judgment and decisions on the permissibility of injunctions and damages claims based on standards-essential patents for which FRAND declarations has been made, and (3) an introduction and explanation of the IP High Court’s Grand Panel judgment on registering extensions of the duration of pharmaceutical patents, which was delivered on May 30, 2014 . The seminar venue was almost full with lawyers, patent attorneys as well as in-house counsels at English and Japanese corporations and other interested parties who specialize in English patent litigation, all of whom listened intently to his speech. This demonstrated the high level of interest in the Japanese patent system and the content of Japanese court decisions.