On July 28, 2014, IP High Court Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara visited the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and had a meeting with Deputy Director Michelle Lee and other USPTO officials. He also observed an inter partes review (IPR), a trial proceeding introduced under the America Invents Act (AIA), and engaged in a discussion with Acting Vice Chief Judge Linda Horner and Administrative Patent Judge Glenn Perry from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Deputy Director Lee provided information on the situation at the USPTO and the circumstances surrounding patents in the United States after the enactment of the AIA, such as that the number of petitions for IPR has been increasing and that whether a bill targeting patent trolls would be successfully passed would depend on the outcome of the election scheduled for this fall. Acting Vice Chief Judge Horner provided a detailed explanation of the current practice regarding the filing of petitions for IPR and the USPTO's infrastructure to respond to these petitions.