On October 6, 2016, six persons, including the chairperson of the Chamber of Patent Attorneys (German Public Law Corporation) (Patentanwaltskammer), Mr.Nanno M. Lenz, visited the IP High Court and exchanged opinions on recent court cases related to the doctrine of equivalents in Japan and Germany.

First, after explaining the characteristics of the IP High Court, Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara introduced the IP High Court’s judgment as of March 25, 2016 (“Maxacalcitol” Grand Panel case), under the title “Doctrine of Equivalents.” Then, patent attorney of the Chamber of Patent Attorneys (German Public Law Corporation), Dr. Stefan M. Zech explained an outline of three recent judgments of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the doctrine of equivalents under the title “Recent IP law decisions in Germany.” After that, they engaged in an active question-and-answer session with a central focus on common features and differences between court cases in Japan and Germany concerning the doctrine of equivalents based on the details of each presentation mentioned above.