Advantages of Aoyama & Partners

At Aoyama & Partners, the same patent attorney handles a patent case from its filing to grant (both the Japanese application and any corresponding international applications).

Although it may be more efficient to divide the case for domestic and international matters, we believe that in order to provide high-quality services, it is more ideal to have the same patent attorney be involved in both matters, such as having a single patent attorney be in charge of a family of patent applications. Of course, the patent attorney in charge is not the only one involved, but supervisors and other patent attorneys with their collective knowledge are always standing by for support. While a single person is responsible for the case, we train their successor and handle the case as an organization so that we can continuously work with our clients over a long period of time.

Although one patent attorney is in charge of a single case, we form a team with a flexible mix of personnel so that we can serve our clients according to each case’s particular circumstances.

Recently, we have seen an increase in projects that span multiple technical fields. These include cutting-edge medical testing equipment that incorporates both AI and genetic engineering technologies. In such cases, our patent attorneys specializing in electronics/IT and life science, respectively, will work together to handle the case. In litigation cases, the patent attorneys in the legal department and the patent attorneys in charge of the case work with each other, and depending on the case, they team up with our legal counsel or outside attorneys to face the court case.

We are able to form optimal teams because we have a full complement of specialized patent attorneys in every technical field, and because we have built a workplace culture in which information is actively exchanged and advice is given to each other across technical fields on a daily basis.

At Aoyama & Partners, approximately 50 to 60 staff members form groups by region, such as North America, Asia and Europe, to collect the latest IP information for each region they are in charge of. We learn from each other at regular in-house study sessions and update the shared information.

In particular, as we have handled many international cases, we can quickly obtain the latest local information from general law firms and patent law firms around the world, which is reflected in our daily work. We can appropriately deal with legal changes in Japan and other countries, new procedures, and any problems that may arise.

Both experienced patent attorneys and inexperienced patent attorneys actively visit firms in foreign countries and casually interact with foreign agents who visit our firm frequently, so that we can share the latest information across the firm and apply it to our practice.

Aoyama & Partners has introduced a uniquely customized docketing system based on the knowledge we have accumulated since our founding. Various procedures, deadline management, and progress status checks are performed in an integrated manner by divisions that specialize in domestic and international formalities. A customized proprietary system is used to manage all procedures.

In order to properly acquire and maintain our clients' valuable intellectual property rights, we have put in place measures to allow only those people in charge of each case to have access to its data. Furthermore, data is backed up from a remote location and adequate disaster countermeasures are in place.

Aoyama & Partners dispatches lecturers to its clients to conduct seminars on legal changes and new procedures, as well as basic seminars to support human resource development.

We can also use our global network to arrange lectures on the legal systems and practices in the countries of our affiliated foreign firms when their agents visit Japan. The content and style of seminars and lectures can be tailored to the client's needs.