With a ‘strong presence on the ground in Tokyo’, Morrison Foerster’s litigation department continues to stand out for its expertise in ‘complex litigation cases’. Max Olson has considerable experience handling litigation involving patents, trade secrets and the sports sector, and also excels in international arbitration. With a wealth of experience in international arbitration and litigation proceedings in the tech space, Louise Stoupe leads the team alongside Yuka Teraguchi, who regularly advises tech clients in relation to IP and commercial disputes. Chie Yakura’s broad practice covers IP, tech, trade secrets, and antitrust/competition law claims, as well as cross-border commercial disputes and product liability matters. Yuichi Inase is noted for his commercial and IP litigation expertise.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
'Yuichi Inase adds value with his deep understanding of our businesses and practical approach to problem solving.'
‘The partner we work with, Nonaka Takahiro, takes a genuine interest in the people within the company. Not only do they have a strong understanding of the law and related practices, but they also strive to tailor solutions to the company’s unique situation.’
‘Yuki Terazawa works smoothly across cultural and language differences and is very strong at leveraging on MoFo's global capabilities to support Japanese clients.'
‘MoFo Tokyo is excellent at handling our more complex litigation cases, including when we need coordination with our North American colleagues or reports written in English (in these cases MoFo Tokyo can directly work with our North American colleagues). MoFo Tokyo is our go-to firm for Japan litigation.’
‘With a strong local litigation team on the ground in Tokyo, and the Tokyo team working seamlessly with US teams, MoFo is uniquely positioned to support Japanese clients regarding US and global disputes and litigation matters in the best professional way working across cultural, legal and languages barriers. ’
‘The firm demonstrates a strong commitment to the Japanese market, and its partners possess in-depth knowledge of Japan. Additionally, the firm maintains a high level of professionalism while remaining flexible in its billing practices.’
‘Advice from this team is useful, and we can communicate in Japanese, so communication for technical issues can be done smoothly.’
‘The partners in this firm have a long relationship with our company and understand very well our business and products.’
Key clients
- Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., and its affiliates such as Citizen Watch Co. of America, Inc.
- Renesas Electronics
- Fujitsu Limited and its affiliates such as Fujitsu America, Inc.
- Socionext Inc. and its affiliates such as Socionext America, Inc.
- Buffalo Inc.
- DENSO TEN Limited
- Rakuten Mobile, Inc., and its affiliates such as Rakuten Group, Inc., and Rakuten Symphony, Inc.
- Fujitsu Client Computing Ltd.
- Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
- Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Work highlights
Representing Citizen Watch, one of the earliest pioneers of solar wristwatch technology, in patent litigation brought by Omnitek in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over allegations that Citizen’s solar wristwatches infringe its patent.
Successfully defended Fujitsu America in a patent infringement dispute against Realtime Data involving parallel proceedings before U.S. District Courts, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Representing ARM Ltd., a U.K.-based microprocessor designer owned by SoftBank Group, in a high-profile case against NuVia and Qualcomm involving a licensing dispute, trade mark, and breach of contract claims.
Lawyers
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Yuichi Inase
Next generation partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Louise Stoupe; Yuka Teraguchi
Other key lawyers
Chie Yakura; Nonaka Takahiro; Yuichi Inase; Yukihiro Terazawa