IKUBO & KATAYAMA - Key Persons
Akiko Kojima deals with matters of litigation, contract negotiation and legal advice in the area of general corporate affairs, such as real estate transactions, debt collection, insolvency law and IP law. In the area of securitization of real estate property, Ms. Kojima provides advice in connection with trust, loans, and lease agreements to the originator or the trustee.
In insolvency cases, she has acted as a deputy petitioner or assistant supervisor and deputy trustee to the administrator in large-scale of corporate insolvency cases (under civil rehabilitation law and bankruptcy law) for golf course businesses and other corporations.
Job Titles:
- Attorney at Law
- Associate at Abe
Aya Miyazaki is an associate at Abe, Ikubo & Katayama. Her practice focuses on international patent litigation in a wide variety of technology areas, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, home appliances and semiconductors. Aya also has experience in general corporate legal affairs, insolvency cases and litigation.
Ms. Maki is a partner specialising in the field of IP, restructuring, and corporate affairs.
Emiko Nishizawa deals with matters concerning patent applications and the granting of patent rights for Japanese and overseas university and corporate clients, especially in the field of life sciences, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and molecular biology based on experience gained from working as a pharmaceutical researcher in the private sector as well as working in basic science in a national laboratory. She is also widely engaged in patent term extension, invalidation trials, oppositions, infringement actions and opinions.
Hirofumi Kato's strengths lie in his close cooperative relationships with other specialists (certified public accountants, certified tax accountants, etc.) in order to advise his large client base consisting of medium and small enterprises on matters relating to general corporate legal affairs, dispute resolution, as well as business succession. In addition, as corporate counsel, Mr. Kato is broadly engaged in litigation and dispute resolution cases including negotiations, and has extensive litigation experience in cases such as class action lawsuits and patent litigation.
In the field of business rehabilitation, Mr. Kato has abundant experience in legal liquidation (company reorganization, civil rehabilitation), voluntary liquidation (voluntary liquidation guidelines, turnaround ADR, SME revitalization support council schemes, pure voluntary liquidation), and is involved in various positions acting as representative for debtor companies and sponsor candidates. Recently, he has been handling a large number of cases supporting the rehabilitation or winding up of medium and small enterprises going through voluntary liquidation, as well as debt consolidations based on the guidelines for management-guaranteed debt.
In addition, Mr. Kato has been involved with streamlining the systems and procedures at the Small & Medium Enterprises Revitalization Support Council as a project manager at their national headquarters since its inception in 2007.
Hiroshi Kobayashi is a partner in charge of the Patent Filing & Prosecution Division of Abe, Ikubo & Katayama. He has over 14 years of industry experience as intellectual property counsel. At Dow Chemical, he set up the Japanese patent operation at Dow Japan, where he handled numerous patent matters in the field of chemicals, polymers and agrochemicals. He also worked as a general patent counsel at Pfizer Japan's IP Department, and was responsible for handling numerous patent and trademark matters in the field of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, in addition to global IP management with the Corporate Patent Department. Mr. Kobayashi represents national and multinational corporate clients in the field of pharmaceuticals, biotechnologies, chemicals, agrochemicals, polymers and food sciences. He serves his clients as counsel in matters of IP counseling, domestic and foreign patent prosecution, patent infringement and validity opinions; patent litigation support, and patent education.
Hitomi Onishi is focused on corporate legal affairs, mainly in the field of intellectual property law, labor law, corporate law and insolvency law.
She has been involved in litigation in a wide variety of areas, including patents, unfair competition and trademark rights.
She also has experience in providing continuous support to build compliance structures such as information management systems.
She always endeavors to do her best for the satisfaction of clients.
Isao Saiki has extensive experience in providing legal services responsive to clients' needs in the field of corporate law.
Mr. Saiki also handles various litigation deriving from corporate legal matters, especially in the fields of intellectual property law and securities laws, and has vast experience in handling litigation in the fields of pharmaceutical products, biogenetics, semiconductors, displays, manufacturing machinery and car navigation systems, as well as litigation brought under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. In securities litigation, he has represented defendants in class actions and other court proceedings against multiple plaintiffs.
Furthermore, Mr. Saiki is well experienced in the field of business turnarounds and insolvency. He has been appointed on numerous occasions by the Tokyo District Court as a bankruptcy trustee, a supervisor in corporate civil rehabilitation, and a supervisor in personal bankruptcy matters. He also has broad experience in corporate bankruptcy as a deputy reorganization trustee in major corporate reorganization cases such as Maruko Inc., Chisan, Rinkai Nissan Construction, and Japan Airlines. Further, he has represented the petitioner in multiple large-scale corporate reorganizations and civil rehabilitation cases, and especially in the Sogo Group case that was considered to be the first large case under the newly introduced Civil Rehabilitation Law, he played a central role in the proceedings of the civil rehabilitation petition.
Mr. Saiki has further expanded his practice area and is assisting corporations with setting up compliance systems, serving as an outside auditor for listed companies, and writing articles on compliance. For seven years from 2003, he was a lecturer of the compulsory course required by the Japan Patent Attorneys Association in order to be accredited as a "Fuki-Benrishi", who are patent attorney's specially qualified to appear before the courts in intellectual property related litigation as a co-representative with an attorney at law.
His motto is, "Speedy and Accurate Work".
Junichi Kitahara specializes in litigation related to domestic and international commercial disputes, mainly in the area of intellectual property. In intellectual property litigation, Mr. Kitahara has represented various clients in many types of disputes, especially those involving patents. He has served a main role in court in numerous cases, many of which have resulted in successful enforcement of clients' patents or dismissal of competitors' patent claims. His cases have involved a vast array of technologies and products, including pharmaceuticals, chemical products, medical devices, semiconductors and electronics, and computer software. In addition to his expertise in litigation, Mr. Kitahara is also specialized in bankruptcy and reorganization. He has extensive experience in acting as bankruptcy trustee officially appointed by the bankruptcy court and representing debtors in complex corporate reorganization cases.
Awards
IAM Global Leader - IAM Global Leaders (2022-2023)
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner in Abe, Ikubo and Katayama
Kaoru Kuroda is a partner in Abe, Ikubo and Katayama, where her practice focuses on providing the highest quality results for foreign corporations in patent litigation and other intellectual property matters. In particular, Kaoru has significant experience representing clients in patent litigation involving major entities in the pharmaceutical, chemical, electronic, semiconductor and telecommunication industries. Kaoru has demonstrated an ability to present a myriad of complex technologies in simple and understandable terms both in writing and in oral argument.
Kaoru received a Master of Science in chemistry from Kyoto University. Before admitted to the Japanese Bar in 2007, she had dealt with patent prosecutions and invalidation trials in the fields of organic compounds, pharmaceuticals, machines, electronic materials, business methods and others for eight years. Kaoru served as a judicial intern for Chief Judge Rader at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2011-2012. After admitted to the New York Bar in 2012, she worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a visiting attorney for six months.
Kaoru frequently speaks about diverse issues of patent law and other intellectual property matters at conferences and seminars both in Japanese and English. Kaoru has also participated in legal education by lecturing at the Japan Patent Office, Tokyo University, Kobe University and other organizations.
Kaoru has taken an active role as a member of Patent System Subcommittee and Design System Subcommittee of the Intellectual Property Committee under the Japanese Government Industrial Structure Council in which to discuss revision of the Patent Act and the Design Act.
Education
B.S., Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University (1996)
M.S., Chemistry, Graduate School of Sciences, Kyoto University (1998)
J.D., Keio Law School (2006)
LL.M., University of Virginia School of Law (2011)
Kentaro Sato is focused on corporate legal affairs, mainly in the field of intellectual property law, corporate rehabilitation and bankruptcy, and litigation.
Additionally, he has experience in lay judge trials, so he can also deal with criminal cases.
Job Titles:
- Attorney at Law
- Medical Doctor
Kohei Sugimori studied medicine at university. Making the most of his background, he is focused on corporate legal affairs, mainly in the field of intellectual property law, insolvency law and litigation.
Koichi Iwata is a Japanese patent attorney specializing in the field of biotechnology, especially life sciences, molecular biology, immunology and pharmaceutical products, and also has a wealth of practical experience in the fields of organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry and nanotechnology. Mr. Iwata is widely involved in IP practice related to the filing of patent applications and granting of patent rights for Japanese and overseas corporate clients, universities and research institutes.
Makoto Hattori is specialized in litigation related to domestic and international intellectual property disputes, especially patent infringement litigation. Mr. Hattori has represented various clients in many types of disputes. He has served a main role in court in numerous cases, many of which have achieved successful outcomes.
During the time when he was seconded to METI, he had the experience of being involved in the planning and formulation of Japan's intellectual property strategy and worked on the amendment of the Unfair Competition Prevention Law.
Mami Hino has experience in representing the world's leading technology companies for many years in disputes, litigation and transactions. Mami's practice emphasizes invalidity trials and resultant IP High Court appeals, cross-border infringement litigation, strategic patent prosecution, client counseling, and opinions. She collaborates with a variety of clients from heavy machinery companies to consumer product companies, including chemical companies and pharmaceutical companies.
Due to her background as a registered pharmacist, Mami has extensive experience representing innovator pharmaceutical companies to protect their patents, such as filing patent term extension applications, defending their patents in invalidity trials and IP High Court appeals, filing preliminary injunction requests and/or patent infringement suits against generic drug companies.
Mami studied law at a U.S. law school (J.D.) and practiced as an attorney at a New York law firm that specializes in intellectual property. She can provide foreign clients with Japanese IP advice by utilizing her understanding of the differences between foreign IP practice and Japanese IP practice.
Awards
Japan, Intellectual Property: Domestic (Band 1) for 11 consecutive years - Chambers Global (2012-2022)
Masaru Uetake covers wide range of legal matters concerning corporate activities (legal consultations for daily business, drafting contracts, guidance for shareholder meetings, business and structural reorganizations including M&A, lawsuits, debt collection, anti-trust etc.). He also handles family law matters such as divorce, estate, and criminal and juvenile justice matters as part of his pro-bono activities.
In addition, Mr. Uetake has broad experience in insolvency procedures such as corporate reorganization, civil rehabilitation, liquidation, special liquidation, and private arrangement with creditors in various capacities such as petitioner's (debtor's) counsel, corporate reorganization trustee, trustee in bankruptcy deputy liquidator. He also handles insolvency matters as a negotiator or representative of large creditors, sponsor candidates, etc.
In addition, he lectures at open seminars sponsored by consultant companies and at training sessions organized by business industries or corporations on such topics as corporate (business) rebuilding, corporate restructuring and compliance.
Job Titles:
- Visiting Foreign Attorney
Professor Morio Takeshita became our firm's special counsel in 1997 and had been providing us with invaluable guidance for twenty-two years.
He sadly passed away on October 2, 2019.
Motoyuki Kobayashi covers a broad range of corporate legal affairs, mainly in the fields of insolvency and business rehabilitation, disputes, and litigation.
In the insolvency and business rehabilitation field, Mr. Kobayashi works with small and medium enterprises all across Japan to help with rehabilitation of their businesses, as well as proactively aiding businesses with succession and wind-up support.
In the disputes and litigation field, Mr. Kobayashi is not blinkered to pure legal aspects, he works closely with clients to achieve optimum outcomes from multiple perspectives.
He also has extensive experience in M&A as well as medical care, nursing care, and other healthcare-related areas, and inheritance advise for individual customers.
Mr. Kobayashi is very responsive to clients' needs, and guarantees to do his best to help his clients.
Ryo Okawa is mainly involved in filing and prosecution in the fields of machinery, electronics, and software. He has extensive experience in filing and prosecution of office equipment, automobiles, motorcycles, working machinery, and industrial machinery.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Representative
- Lawyer