Joint Judicial Conference on Japan and U.S. Intellectual Property Rights

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Intellectual Property Shareholder Robert G. Mukai served on a panel as part of the Joint Judicial Conference on Japan and U.S. Intellectual Property Rights, held in Tokyo, Japan, October 26–27, 2011.

Mukai spoke on doctrine of equivalents in a breakout panel held on the first day. Joining him on the panel were:

• The Honorable Sharon Prost
  Circuit Judge
  United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Shoichi Okuyama
  Co-principal
  Okuyama & Sasajima
• Naoki Yoshida
  Partner
  Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP

The two-day conference, sponsored by the United States Patent & Trademark Office and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, brought together judges of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Tokyo Intellectual Property High Court to discuss contributions of each court to its nation. The event also featured en banc sessions of the courts, a mock appellate argument before judges of both courts and topical sessions on important issues in patent law including patent exhaustion, indirect infringement, damages & injunctions, obviousness and trade secret protection.