Shitara’s (right) elevation comes after the previous chief judge Toshiaki Iimura retired upon reaching mandatory retirement age. Shitara most recently served as presiding judge in the IP High Court, and before that he was the presiding judge of the Civil Division of the Tokyo High Court. He has also served several stints on the Intellectual Property Division of the Tokyo District Court before the IP High Court was created.
The previous chief judge, Toshiaki Iimura, is well respected and widely credited as one of the most influential voices on IP in Japan. In 2012, he spoke with Managing IP about the globalisation of intellectual property in Japan.
