On November 28, 2006, a delegation from the People’s Republic of China visited the IP High Court. The delegation members, including delegation leader Judge Jiang Zhipei of the Intellectual Property Rights Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC as well as judges of the Supreme People’s Court and prosecutors of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, exchanged opinions with the IP High Court judges.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Chief Judge of the IP High Court Katsumi Shinohara gave a welcoming speech for the PRC delegation, emphasizing the importance of cross-border alliances and cooperation in dealing with cases in the field of intellectual property law.
Judge Zhipei, in his address of acknowledgement in return, expressed that he agreed with the view that international collaboration was necessary in this field, and pointed out that intellectual property was also becoming more and more important in China.

In the session that followed, the PRC delegation members and the IP High Court judges exchanged their opinions with each other on the recent trends in intellectual property cases. More specifically, the IP High Court judges explained the history and jurisdiction of the IP High Court, the procedures in infringement lawsuits and those in lawsuits against the JPO board decisions, and outline of the judicial research official system and the expert commissioner system. The PRC delegation asked questions about how the IP High Court manages and handles cases, while describing the current situation regarding intellectual property cases including criminal cases in China.