Since its founding thirty-five years ago, SOEI Patent & Law Firm has supported its clients in a broad variety of IP matters. SOEI as a law firm was established in 1999, when three attorneys-at-lawyers joined the new SOEI Patent Office founded by a patent attorney.

I was a judge for around thirty-nine years, from 1979 until retirement age in January of 2017, at which time I was the Chief Judge of the Intellectual Property High Court. I worked in intellectual property litigation for around twenty-two-and-a-half of these years, but wished to continue working in IP and assist clients even after retirement from my position as a judge. I therefore joined SOEI in April of 2018 as Vice President, then replaced former chairman Tomokatsu Tsukahara (former IPHC Chief Judge himself) in July of the same year, and have led the organization ever since.

All of our specialist departments, including the Legal (centered on attorneys-at-law & patent attorneys), Patent, Design/Trademark, Systems (supports the firm with their IT expertise), and expert Docketing Departments collaborate under a team-based approach to fulfil our clients’ requests. I believe that one can find no other firm in this industry with an organizational structure so suited for effectively serving clients.

Our legal team is a diverse group that includes former judges, former chief administrative judges of the Japan Patent Office, former judicial research officials, and attorneys-at-law with academic backgrounds in the sciences, and a deeper understanding of IP laws and technologies. Teaming up experienced specialists with junior attorneys-at-law to work cases in tandem enables highly specialized IP litigation knowledge to be passed on and propagated, which ensures that we will be able to continue supporting our clients long into the future.

We will continue to wholeheartedly pursue the utmost benefit for all our clients with diligence, to become your primary destination when issues of IP litigation arise.