World Trademark Review Yearbook 2021/2022: Japan

Hitomi handles patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other IP-related matters in multiple business sectors, including IT, life sciences and healthcare, machinery, food, fashion, environment and energy, entertainment, financial services, and e-commerce. Ms. Iwase’s expertise encompasses all forms of IP transactional work, both cross-border and domestic, including licensing, strategic alliances, joint development, and asset transfers, as well as various types of IP disputes, including patent/trademark infringement litigation. Hitomi also assists clients in anti-counterfeiting and in the development of IP portfolios and prosecution strategies. Hitomi regularly advises clients on emerging legal issues relating to the latest technology, such as IoT and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as on complex system-related transactions and disputes over such transactions. In the area of data privacy, Hitomi provides extensive advice on data protection and privacy compliance, including on establishing global compliance systems and incidents such as data breaches. Hitomi also advises on related areas such as e-commerce, advertising, and consumer protection.

Ryohei specializes in trademark/design prosecution, searches and cancellation/invalidation actions before the Japan Patent Office. He also has strong expertise in due diligence work and transactions involving IP rights. He is actively engaged in collecting information and exchanging opinions on intellectual property protection in other countries, and has attended international conferences hosted by World Intellectual Property Organization as a member of delegation of Japan Patent Attorneys Association. He has a great interests in IP protection in Latin America. In 2019, he joined the Japan-Mexico Training Program for the Strategic Global Partnership provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Government of Mexico.

Currently based in Bangkok, he is widely involved in matters relating to intellectual property in Southeast Asian countries, mainly concerning the Kingdom of Thailand.

Chisako specializes in trademark prosecution and related matters, including searches, filings, oppositions, invalidations, and cancellations, before the Japan Patent Office. She also specializes in enforcement actions, including online counterfeiting and trademark infringement issues.