No matter how highly developed the media of communication have become, time, language, and cultural barriers still can hinder protection of intellectual property in other countries. This is true for Japan as well as for anywhere else. Applicants can run into problems when communicating directly with Japanese legal counsel and evaluating work done in Japan due to the language barrier, for example. They may also encounter inconsistencies in slow response time, and high communication costs.

The Kéisén Advantage

In answer to these issues, Keisen’s predecessor, Omori & Yaguchi, founded Omori & Yaguchi U.S.A. in Philadelphia in 2000, achieving several strategic advantages. Our Philadelphia office houses registered Japanese patent attorneys, U.S. patent attorneys, and U.S. patent agents. Located in the Eastern U.S. and with many bilingual staff members, we are able to meet regularly with our clients, even in person, to discuss their problems and IP strategies in English, which is crucial for creating high-quality documents for Japan. Our lawyers have intimate knowledge of the Japanese IP business and can assist personally with legal aspects of developing a market strategy for Japan, including licensing, franchising, and other matters related to intellectual property rights. The Tokyo and Philadelphia offices cooperate to serve our clients’ IP prosecution and litigation needs around the clock. In order to facilitate effective communication between our two offices, we conduct television conferences and even frequently fly staff between the offices.