Japan

Firm overview

Kilpatrick is trusted counsel to the world’s most innovative companies. To serve our groundbreaking clients, we are at the forefront of client service, a leader in DE&I, and on the cutting edge of law and technology. With recognized strength in the technology sector and a full range of service offerings, we deliver practical, business-centric solutions built upon strong and enduring connections.

Kilpatrick Townsend IP Law Office opened in 2006 as the firm’s first office in Asia. Led by special counsel Hitoshi Akiba, a Japanese patent attorney and member of the New York Bar, the Tokyo office is heavily utilized by Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys advising Asia-based and U.S. clients with interests in Japan and throughout Asia. The Tokyo office focuses on patent counseling for clients in a broad range of industries, working for U.S. businesses entering Japan and other Asian markets and for Japanese clients with intellectual property issues in the U.S.

The Tokyo office brings the latest developments in U.S. intellectual property law to Japan via annual briefings for Japanese businesses. Through educational sessions featuring Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys, the firm’s programs provide intellectual property professionals in Japan with critical information and the tools necessary to navigate the complex U.S. system for patent protection.

Firm overview

RYUKA IP Law Firm is led by IP professionals with diverse backgrounds in many technical fields and expertise in a variety of jurisdictions. Our key practice areas include patents, trademarks, copyrights, licensing, designs, utility models, and litigation, with areas of technical specialty in electronics, telecommunications, software, optics, mechanical engineering, semiconductors, electronic materials, and chemicals. Ryuka’s visualization and consulting experts support inventors in the realization of their ideas and our talented patent attorneys and other IP practitioners work with professionalism to keep our clients’ valuable assets safe. Our clients can always expect a prompt response, and we have always demonstrated professionalism to meet our clients’ needs and expectations. 

Our client list is extensive and varied, including well-established domestic and international companies, smaller startup organizations, and individual inventors. We aim to provide universally high quality service to all companies, regardless of their size or status, in an effort to contribute to the realization of their full business potential. Clients range from hands-on companies that research and develop ideas, to international law firms for whom we open doors to the Japanese IP system. The quality of our client list and the strength of our client relationships attest to the quality and dedication of our staff.

RYUKA currently has 109 employees, of which 35 are attorneys.

Firm overview

TMI Associates has 102 patent and trademark attorneys (benrishi) in addition to 677 attorneys at law (bengoshi). These professionals – together with over 100 paralegals and other support staff members – form a unique organizational structure that enables the firm to respond in a highly effective and efficient manner to the needs of clients across a wide variety of businesses and technologies from all around the globe.

<History>
Since its establishment in 1990, TMI has grown rapidly and achieved its goal of becoming a full-service law firm that offers valuable and comprehensive legal services of the highest calibre at all times, while placing great importance on exercising unparalleled legal judgement in areas including intellectual property, litigation, general corporate, corporate finance, antitrust and bankruptcy law. Intellectual property – including patents, designs and trademarks – has been an integral part of the firm’s practice since its establishment, and TMI boasts an unrivalled level of experience and achievements in this area.

<Collaboration>
Thanks to its patent/trademark attorneys and IP lawyers working together as a team, TMI offers its clients high-quality IP services that are unlike those of any other international law firm in Japan.

<IP team>
• 102 patent and trademark attorneys (benrishi),
• 50 electronical and mechanical attorneys,
• 29 chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical attorneys
• 29 trademark and design attorneys; and
• 110 IP lawyers (bengoshi).
One of the ‘Big Five’ law firms in Japan, TMI has currently the largest benrishi group by far, which supports the reputation of its strong IP practice in all technical fields.

<IP practice>
TMI’s practice covers all aspects of intellectual property, including patent and trademark prosecution, transactions (eg, patent sales, acquisitions and licensing), litigation, pre-litigation analysis, invalidation trials and oppositions, freedom-to-operate analysis, due diligence and import suspension at Customs. The firm files approximately 4,400 trademark, 4,400 patent and 650 Design applications, domestically and overseas included, and over 20 IP lawsuits per year.

<Ability to resolve IP disputes>
Our strong litigation team is made up of highly experienced IP litigation lawyers and patent/trademark attorneys with a track record of successful cases, including in infringement litigation and invalidation proceedings against decisions of the Japan Patent Office. In order to strengthen its litigation practice, TMI has also recruited lawyers who were previously high-profile judges, including former Supreme Court judges and a former presiding judge of an IP high court division.

<High-quality services in related areas>
• Anti-counterfeiting projects involving civil, criminal and customs procedures to prevent importation of counterfeit products
• Copyright
• Entertainment and sports law
• Protection of know-how and trade secrets
• Prevention against unfair competition
• Contract drafting
• Resolution of disputes arising from IP licensing agreements
• IP due diligence upon acquisition, merger or listing on stock exchange
• Financing collateralized with IP rights

Firm overview

SUGIMURA, formerly known as SUGIMRUA International Patent and Trademark Attorneys is a leading intellectual property law firm in Japan which was founded in 1923. SUGIMURA has earned an international reputation for quality in Japanese IP prosecution and is repeatedly ranked among the top Japanese patent and trademark firms. As of March 1, 2017, SUGIMURA has re-launched as SUGIMURA & Partners, to reflect continued expansion of its services to newly formed legal division, which extends the quality and reputation from IP prosecution practice to IP litigation and dispute resolution practices.

SUGIMURA delivers results-oriented solutions and offers customized services tailored to clients’ needs. The firm ensures close collaboration among its practice groups in order to provide clients with comprehensive multidisciplinary patent and trademark protection across industry sectors. Their attorneys combine legal insight, technical expertise, and business acumen to deliver practical solutions and strategies for intellectual property protection in Japan.