Firm Profile

Kyowa Patent and Law Office was established on September 1, 1908, and is a full-service IP firm with more than 110 years of history.

Organization

Kyowa’s 60 patent attorneys, including five attorneys at law and one Chinese registered foreign lawyer, harmoniously cooperate to provide services tailored to each of its clients. Kyowa has six departments (see distribution of attorneys, some concurrently serving):

• Electrical (20)
• Mechanical (18)
• Chemical (20)
• Designs and Trademarks (12)
• Litigations (5)
• Chinese Market (4)

Highly qualified attorneys

Kyowa’s attorneys are graduates from high-ranking universities and specialists with rich knowledge in their field. Most of them have previous experience working in the R&D or patent section of major Japanese companies. Some have served as examiners for the JPO. Their wide range of technical expertise enables the firm to elaborate the best strategy for the protection of its clients’ innovations in view of Japanese patent practice.

Kyowa’s managing partner, Manabu MIYAJIMA, is an attorney at law admitted to both the State Bar of California and the Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar. Ruoling DU, partner, is a Chinese-licensed lawyer who speedily and efficiently communicates with our Chinese clients with deeper understanding of Chinese society and culture.

Litigation

Kyowa provides various services in cases of litigation, disputes, and negotiations involving advanced technologies. While it is uncommon in Japan for attorneys at law to have technical background, most of Kyowa’s attorneys at law have master’s or bachelor’s degrees in engineering, pharmaceutics or other sciences. In the case of services such as infringement litigation, opposition, appeals against trial decisions, and contract negotiations related to patents and other intellectual property, our technical-background attorneys at law work together with our patent attorneys specialized in the technology relevant to the case. Their deep understanding of the technology allows them to make persuasive arguments in patent disputes which has proven beneficial in numerous litigations.