35°38′30″N 139°42′11″E / 35.641651°N 139.703047°EThe Intellectual Property High Court (知的財産高等裁判所, Chiteki-zaisan kōtō-saiban-sho), sometimes abbreviated IPHC, is a special branch of Tokyo High Court in the judicial system of Japan. It is based in Nakameguro, a district in Meguro Ward in Tokyo, Japan. [1]
The Intellectual Property (IP) High Court was established on 1 April 2005, [2] in order to accelerate and reduce the costs of patent litigation in Japan. [3] The IP High Court hears appeals from district courts in Japan on patent actions and suits against appeal/trial decisions made by the Japan Patent Office (JPO). [2] The IP High Court is also the exclusive court of appeals on issues such as: the rights of authors of a computer program, utility model rights, and integrated circuit layout design protection. [4]
Chief judges of the IP High Court |
1. Katsumi Shinohara (April 2005 – April 2007). [5] |
2. Tomokatsu Tsukahara (May 2007 – ca. August 2010). [5] |
3. Tetsuhiro Nakano (August 2010 – March 2012) [6] [7] |
4. Toshiaki Iimura (March 2012 – June 2014).[ citation needed] |
5. Ryuichi Shitara (June 2014 – January 2017).[ citation needed] |
6. Misao Shimizu (January 2017 – May 2018).[ citation needed] |
7. Makiko Takabe (May 2018 – ). [8] |