Our People

Managing Partner
Patent Attorney
Member of the AIPPI
Member of the APAA

Areas of Practice:

Semiconductor
Electronics

Education:

University of Electro-Communications (BE 1982)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office (1982- 2013)
　Director General, Patent Examination Department (Electronic Technology)
　Director, Trial & Appeal Division
　Patent Examiner

Japan-China Economic Association Beijing office (1998-2001)
　Director, Intellectual Property Office

Institute of Intellectual Property (2001-2003)
　Director, Research Department

Industrial Property Cooperation Center (2005-2007)
　Managing Director, Policy & Planning Department

Partner
Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Physics
Optics
Semiconductor

Education:

University of Tokyo(BS 1986, Physics)
Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo(MS 1988, Physics)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office (1988- 2021)
　Director General, Trial & Appeal Department
　Director General, Patent Examination Department (Electronical and ICT technologies)
　Director, Trial & Appeal Division
　Administrative Judge
　Patent Examiner

Ministry of Foreign Affairs(2000-2003)
　First Secretary, Permanent Mission in Geneva

World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO)(2010-2013)
　Director, PCT international Cooperation Division

Partner
Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Electricity
Information processing
Data storage

Education:

Nagoya Institute of Technology (BE 1977, Electrical Engineering)
Kyushu University (ME 1979, Electrical Engineering)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office (1979-2012)
　Chief Administrative Judge (Department head)
　Administrative Judge
　Patent Examiner

Intellectual Property High Court (2005-2008)
　Researcher

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Mechanical and electronic technologies

Education:

Tokyo University of Science (BE 1995, Mechanical Engineering)
Tokyo University of Science (ME 1997, Mechanical Engineering)

Past Employment Positions:

Matsuyama Co., Ltd. (1997-2003)

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Mechanics
Medical device

Education:

University of Tokyo (BE 1993)
University of Tokyo (ME 1995)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office (1995-2013)
　Administrative Judge
　Patent Examiner

Embassy of Japan in Morocco (2006-2009)
　Chief of Economic Division

Private Patent Office (2014-2016)

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Mechanical and Optical technologies

Education:

Tohoku University, Department of Technology (BE1981, Precision Engineering)

Past Employment Positions:

Hino Motors Co., Ltd. (1981-1986)
Okabe International Patent Office (1987-1996)

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Semiconductor
IT
Medical equipment

Education:

Tokyo University of Education: Master’s Degree (physics)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office
　Study of electronics at Pennsylvania State University (1980-1981)

Chiyoda International Business Law Firm (1985-1987)

Philips Japan Co, Ltd.(1987-1998)
　General Manager of Legal Department

Sawada & Associates (1998-2010)
Ashida & Kimura Patent Attorneys (2010-2017)

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Trademark

Education:

Aoyama Gakuin University, College of Literature

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office(1971-2009)
　Chief Administrative Judge (Department head)
　Director, Trademark Division
　Director, Machinery Division(Trademark)
　Director, International Trademark Application Division

Polaire Intellectual Property Corporation (2009-2018)

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Design

Education:

Chiba University of Engineering (ME 1983)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office(1983- 2014)
　Chief Administrative Judge
　Senior Director, Industrial Machinery Division(Design Examination Division)
　Director, Household Equipment Division(Design Examination Division)
　Director, Design Registration System Planning Office
　Design Examiner

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Magnetic Recording
Optical Recording
Instruments
Audio Devices
Visual Devices
Electronics Devices
Amplifiers
Batteries
Power Systems

Education:

Tohoku University (BE 1981, Communication Engineering)
Tohoku University (ME 1983, Information Engineering)

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office (1983-2019)
　Principal Administrative Judge
　Principal Examiner

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Trademark

Education:

Bachelor of Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science

Past Employment Positions:

Japan Patent Office (1979- 2019)
　Senior Director, Industrial Services Examination Division(Trademark).
　Director, Machinery Examination Division(Trademark).
　Director, International Trademark Application Examination Division.
　Director, International Trademark Classification Management Office.
　Trademark Examiner

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

IT
Semiconductor

Education:

Hokkaido University (BS 2004, Physics)
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (MS 2007, Material Science)

Past Employment Positions:

NTT Electronics Co., Ltd (2007-2010)
Fukuchi International Patent Firm (2010-2012)
Maeda and Yamagata Patent Firm (2012-2015)
SUBARU TECHNO CORPORATION (2015-2020)
COLOPL, Inc. (2020-2022)

U.S. Patent Agent

Areas of Practice:

Distributed Computing
IoT
Software
Information Processing
Communication
Systems

Education:

Gustavus Adolphus College (MN, USA)-Bachelor of Arts- Physics (2013)
Kansai Gaidai University Japanese Studies Program (Hirakata-shi, Osaka) (2012)

Past Employment Positions:

Served as an Assistant Team Lead at the IBM Rochester Patent Center before moving to Japan in 2015.
Employed in the Intellectual Property Department of Disco Corporation until 2016.
Began collaborating with Dai-ichi International Patent Office in 2017.

Patent Engineer

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Aircraft Interior, Machine Tool, Railway Vehicle, Air Conditioner

Patent Attorney

Areas of Practice:

Mechanics (copy machines, etc.), Trademarks, Designs

Patent attorney

Chief Paralegal