On July 20, 2021, a discussion session was held online between the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and judges of the IP High Court and the intellectual property divisions of the Tokyo District Court. Established in 1897, AIPLA is an organization consisting of legal professionals who mainly practice IP law. This was the 31st session between Japanese courts and AIPLA. Sessions between the two had been held on an annual basis upon visits to Japan by delegations from AIPLA. However, this year, the session was held online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the discussion session, the following two speakers from AIPLA gave presentations: Ms. Sharon Israel, under the title of “Recent IP Cases from US Supreme Court,” focusing on the Arthrex Case in which the US Supreme Court revoked the decision of the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit; and Ms. Barbara Fiacco, under the title of “Section 101 Patentable Subject Matter and the American Axle Case,” focusing on the American Axle Case in which the point of issue was patent eligibility.
From Japanese courts, two speakers gave presentations, namely Chief Judge OTAKA Ichiro of the IP High Court, under the title of “Introduction of Amicus Brief system in Japan,” in which he provided an outline of the system for seeking opinions from third parties that is to be introduced under the amended Patent Act, and Judge TANAKA Koichi of the Tokyo District Court, under the title of “Recent Doctrine of Equivalents in Japan－Re: the fifth condition; dedication－,” in which he talked about determination on the fifth condition of the doctrine of equivalents.
Subsequently, the Japanese judges and the AIPLA participants actively exchanged opinions on the contents of these presentations.
At the end of the session, Chief Judge OTAKA and Mr. Patrick J. Coyne, the President-Elect of AIPLA, made closing remarks, in which they confirmed to deepen the mutual exchange through the next and subsequent sessions.