On November 20, 2007, the Honorable Judge Randall R. Rader of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit visited the IP High Court, accompanied by Professor Martin J. Adelman from the George Washington University Law School, and Professor Katsuya Tamai from the Department of Intellectual Property of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo. These guests had a talk with the chief judge and other judges of the court.

At the beginning of the talk, Judge Rader explained the practical meaning of the latest decision rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States with regard to the issue of inventive step [non-obviousness], one of the patentability requirements, and also described the details of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 and the current deliberation thereof by the US Congress. Following Judge Rader's presentation, the participants actively exchanged opinions, focusing on patent practice and court decisions in Japan and the United States.