JAPAN'S FEDERAL CIRCUIT? Frustrated by a court system ill-equipped to handle intellectual-property cases, businesses are eagerly awaiting the April 2005 launch of a high court specializing in such disputes.

Japanese companies, which have been looking for ways to protect and turn to account their intellectual property, expect the new court will make the filing of infringement lawsuits easier.

``(The new court) will be a major step forward for the protection of intellectual property,'' an official of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) said. ``We'll give it a rating of 80 (out of 100).''

Companies also hail forthcoming legal revisions aimed at making court proceedings confidential.

To prevent corporate secrets from being leaked, the Patent Law revisions will allow courts to put a gag order on everyone involved in the lawsuits if confidential information is submitted as evidence.