Morrison Foerster’s IP group in Tokyo offers a comprehensive service covering patent analysis, technology development and licensing, and litigation proceedings. The practice works with major clients operating in the semiconductor, software, IT, fintech, and pharma spaces, among others. Louise Stoupe, Yuka Teraguchi, and Masato Hayakawa, all of whom have considerable experience handling IP matters, jointly lead the practice. Litigator Max Olson is noted for his expertise in patent and trade secret disputes, and patent license negotiations. Chie Yakura plays a key role in the team, advising clients in the software, hardware, consumer electronics, and biotech sectors on IP and trade secret matters.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Masato Hayakawa is skilled at distilling complex issues into easy-to-understand and practical advice.’
'Seth Graham has been outstanding in handling our IP matters. His deep expertise, innovative solutions, and meticulous attention to detail distinguishes him from competitors. I've greatly valued his unwavering commitment to protecting our intellectual property. His proactive approach and exceptional client service make him a standout partner.’
- ‘Max Olson has been completely familiar with our business models and management system since our company was established. When we inform him of an overview of the problem to our businesses, he does recognise the situation and provide the appropriate advice.'
- 'Yuka Teraguchi is fluent in Japanese and English. It is easy for us to communicate with her and understand the discussion. We feel comfortable. Also, she has excellent abilities to understand our technologies, products and related patents. Her strength is that she can accurately understand our Japanese documents, our ideas and thoughts, and then can reflect our input in the response to the courts.’
‘Chie Yakura is an experienced attorney who has handled many cases for US clients with US or Japanese opponents. She always provides comments and suggestions whenever they are needed based on her vast experience. She is also good at managing costs and time scheduling for cases and at managing technical teams including patent attorneys for patent infringement and invalidity cases.’
‘Morrison Foerster (MOFO) has a great team for handling intellectual property matters, particularly patent and antitrust litigation cases. MOFO has a huge amount of experience in litigation in these particular fields. Thus, MOFO knows how to maximise benefits for clients through litigation. MOFO always satisfies their clients and that is why MOFO is repeatedly selected by major US clients for their very important cases.’
‘MoFo has a team of lawyers from multiple countries located in Japan. This makes it very efficient to use MoFo for projects that cover multiple countries. MoFo listens to our requests, and opinions. This makes it very easy to work with them. They have a good knowledge of the industry and the legal environment. MoFo is also good at doing additional research to support the arguments. They are very fast in their support.’
‘The Morrison & Forster team is familiar with Japanese corporate practices, including decision-making procedures, the preparation of decision-making documents, and the timely conduct of our intentions. In addition, they typically recommend the most effective way to perform the next step cost-effectively.’
Key clients
- Amperex Technologies
- Antarctica Capital LLC
- ARM Ltd.
- Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp.
- Buffalo Inc.
- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd
- Endurance Acquisition Corp.
- Toshiba Corporation
- Fujitsu Client Computing Limited
- Fujitsu Limited and its affiliates such as Fujitsu America, Inc., and Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
- JERA Co., Inc.
- Denso Ten Limited
- Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
- onsemi
- Rakuten Mobile, Inc., and its affiliates such as Rakuten Group, Inc., and Rakuten Symphony, Inc.
- Socionext Inc. and its affiliates such as Socionext America, Inc.
- TDK Corporation
- Teradata
- Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.
Work highlights
- Represented Kyowa Kirin in negotiations for a license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH for the use of Kyowa Kirin's antibody therapeutics to develop novel, first-in-class treatments for fibro-inflammatory diseases.
- Representing ARM Ltd. in a case against NuVia and Qualcomm involving a licensing dispute, trade mark, and breach of contract claims.
- Successfully defended Fujitsu America in a patent infringement dispute against Realtime Data involving parallel proceedings before US District Courts, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners: Bengoshi
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Chie Yakura
Morrison FoersterLeading partners: Gaiben
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Masato Hayakawa
Morrison FoersterYuka Teraguchi
Morrison FoersterPractice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Louise Stoupe, Yuka Teraguchi, Masato Hayakawa