Design Department: SOEI Patent & Law Firm

[Vice President, Director-General, Legal, Design, and Trademarks, Director of the International Client Services Group]

Mr. Kurokawa received his B.S. (1992) and M.S. (1994) in Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics from the University of Tokyo. Following his graduation, he worked for NKK (now JFE), a Japanese steel corporation, as an engineer in the fields of measurement and control equipment.
Since joining to SOEI in 1997 and qualifying as a patent attorney in 1999, he handles not only patent prosecutions, oppositions and expert opinions especially in the fields of mobile communications, computer architecture and software, but also consults with inventors and clients and counsels them on procuring and enforcing worldwide intellectual property rights.
He is a member of JPAA, INTA and APAA. He was a member of the JPAA’ s International Activities Center for many years, and he sometimes served as a delegate to international intellectual property conferences and meetings. From 2003 to 2007, he was an adjunct professor at Toyama University where taught patent law.
He enjoys wine and scuba diving (but not together).

[Senior Adviser]

Mr. Sato earned a Law degree from Rikkyo University in 1979 and qualified as a patent attorney in 1987. He worked for the Hanabusa Institute for the Protection of Industrial Property (the Hanabusa Patent Office) (1979 - 1994) and in individual practice prior to joining Soei.
A member of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA), he served as the chairman of the Design Registration Committee in 1995 and is currently a member of the Trademark Committee. He is also a member of the Copyright Law
Association of Japan and the Japan Association for Industrial Property Law.

Mr. Noma graduated from Waseda University in 2003, where he studied Law, and he qualified as a patent attorney in 2004.
He joined SOEI in 2005 and specializes in Trademarks and Designs.
He is a member of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA).

Mr. YOSHIDA graduated from Meiji University in 1994.
After graduation, he worked for a insurance company. In 2006, he qualified as a patent attorney. He joined SOEI in 2007 and specializes in Trademarks.
He is a member of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA).

Mr. Tsukahara graduated from Waseda University in 1997, where he studied Law, and he qualified as a patent attorney in 2007.
He joined SOEI in 2008 and specializes in Trademarks and Designs.
He is a member of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA).

[Adviser]

Mr. Saito graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He has been Of Counsel at SOEI since 2006.
He held many senior positions in the Japan Patent Office including Appeal Examiner, Director of Design Division and Director of the Board of Appeal. He was a member of the Unfair Competition Prevention Law Committee of Industrial Structure Council, and a Design member of Industrial Property Council. He was also involved in drafting amendments to the Unfair Competition Prevention Law and the Design Law. He is the author of one of the most famous books on Japanese Design Law, “General Observations on Design Law.” He is now unregistered as a patent attorney as of December, 2009,
but still works as an adviser making use of his abundant experience.