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Gold - Firms: prosecution
“When it comes to quality of service, English language capabilities, and level of understanding of complex technical and legal subject-matters, Aoyama & Partners score top in Japan.” “They are outstandingly successful in prosecution matters.” Another source gushes: “They are one of the top IP firms in Japan. They offer impeccable quality and service, which they have proven for decades.” For almost 60 years, Aoyama & Partners has been building up its reputation as one of the most capable and cosmopolitan players in the Japanese IP sphere. Through its offices in Osaka and Tokyo and worldwide network of experts, it leverages the experience of almost 100 patent attorneys to handle applications in more than 150 jurisdictions, as well as domestic and international disputes, especially in the fields of life sciences and technology. Equipped with a cutting-edge docketing system, the outfit can be relied on for quick and easy contact.
Aoyama & Partners was founded in 1965. From its early days, the firm has worked on many international cases with its strong capabilities in the pharmaceutical field, and has been involved in numerous IP lawsuits both in and outside Japan. The Aoyama of today is a general patent attorneys’ firm whose members are specialists in a range of technical areas, including mechanical, electrical, chemical and life sciences, as well as in the design and trademark fields. This enables us to respond to the diverse needs of our clients. Using our own proprietary computer systems developed in conjunction with a software company, we engage in precise deadline management, earning great trust from our clients.
Experience and specialisms
We are one of Japan’s largest IP law firms with a total staff of approximately 300 professionals, including over 100 patent attorneys. We cover all sectors ranging from mechanical, electrical, chemical and life sciences, to designs and trademarks. We can tackle IP-related tasks in all phases of the life cycle, such as all aspects of prosecutions, as well as trials and litigation – both domestically and internationally – in partnership with reputable IP law firms in various countries. We also provide comprehensive IP services, such as providing patentability opinions, evaluating patents, performing freedom-to-operate studies and cultivating innovations, among other things. We also take part in supporting universities and start-ups.
International experience
Aoyama has a huge wealth of experience through handling patent applications in approximately 150 countries and being engaged in numerous lawsuits (several hundred Japanese lawsuits and about 100 international lawsuits). We have been involved in many cutting-edge cases since our firm was established, while expanding our areas of expertise from life science technologies (which are prone to international disputes) to chemistry, electro-mechanics and IT technologies. Our legal department for handling litigation, disputes and IP consultation keeps extending its capabilities.
Hand-picked teams
We generally assign at least one patent attorney to each client to act as liaison, to ensure that we can provide a service that has a personal touch and consistency. We always back up our liaison with teams that are made up of a flexible mix of personnel so that we can best serve our clients, taking account of each case’s particular circumstances. Our team approach enables us to handle urgent tasks and international IP litigations better; it even enables to provide our clients with support for large-scale projects, such as venturing into new fields of technologies. A particular case may cross over to multiple technological fields and, in such circumstances, our strengths can make a big difference as we have the capability to form cross-disciplinary teams to handle such cases. As a rule, we form teams with a mix of attorneys from different generations as we find this enables us to build long-term and seamless relationships with our clients.
Highly secured docketing system
Based on the knowledge and know-how we have built over our more than 50 years of experience, we have developed and introduced a uniquely customised docketing system. All of our procedures, deadlines and progresses are recorded in the system by formality specialists not only for our Japanese cases, but also for our international cases. Because all procedural steps are docketed in the system, they are clearly notable in a timely fashion to provide reminders to all members involved in each case. We have a remote business office that enables us to quickly and easily recover in case of a disaster.
Worldwide network
We are proud of our global network, developed over 50 years, consisting of both general law firms and IP law firms from all over the world. We have the capability of rapidly obtaining IP information across the globe, and immediately reflect such information in our daily work. We can provide our clients with up-to-date and top-quality work with respect to law changes and new procedures both in and outside Japan.
Jurisdiction