On November 11 and 12, 2021, Presiding Judge SHOJI Tamotsu and Judge KATSUMATA Kumiko of the IP High Court participated in the 7th International IP Court Conference (IIPCC) hosted by Patent Court of Korea.
Started in 2015, the IIPCC is an annual conference inviting international guests including judges of courts handling intellectual property cases and experts in intellectual property rights. In 2020 and this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international guests attended by way of a video conference or video recordings.
Under the theme "Court, IP and Harmonization," the conference started with a keynote speech followed by five sessions and a moot arbitration.
Presiding Judge Shoji participated in Session 3 (Challenges to the Patent Act in the Era of Artificial Intelligence) by way of a video recording, in which he explained the recent development of AI-related patents in Japan and presented his opinion concerning various issues related to AI and patent.
Judge Katsumata participated by way of video conferences with Zoom in Session 5 (Employee's Invention— In pursuit of harmonization between the interests of the employer and the employee) and in a moot arbitration concerning a case of employee's invention compensation. At the session, Judge Katsumata presented the recent developments in Japan relating to the legal framework of employee's inventions and litigation to seek the payment of compensation for an employee's invention. At the moot arbitration, she played the role of arbitrator with judges from Korea and Germany and presented an arbitration award.