KEIKO HATA, Associate        
Ms. Hata focuses her practice on the preparation and prosecution of chemical patents before the Japan Patent Office and the foreign patent office. She prosecutes patent applications in a wide array of organic/inorganic chemical arts, such as polymer chemistry, material chemistry, photographic and lithographic chemistry, and coating compositions.
Ms. Hata was a researcher of Asahi Kasei Corporation, where she has researched and developed the composition of semiconductor material, the lithography technology and film physical properties in Asahi Kasei Corporation. Prior to our firm, she worked for another IP law firm as a patent attorney.
Education : M.E., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Environmental Chemical Engineering
B.E., Shinsyu University, Polymer Science

TOMOHISA INOUE, Associate        
Mr. Inoue directs his practice to protection and enforcement of mechanics and electronics patents. He prosecutes patent applications in a range of technologies, such as robotics, packaging machine, electro mechanical devices, and optical devices.
After working as a developer of automobile parts, Mr. Inoue worked for another IP law firm. He handled many patent applications in the fields of construction, machine, and display.
Education : B.A., Kougakuin University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

NAOYA KONISHI, Associate        
Mr. Konishi focuses his practice on the preparation and prosecution of mechanics, electronics, and software patents before the Japan Patent Office and the foreign patent office. He prosecutes patent applications in a range of technologies, such as robotics, engine, information processing, optics, and electro mechanical devices.
Mr. Konishi worked at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd, where he was engaged in the maintenance of jet engine and performance examination system. Afterwards, he worked for another IP law firm, where he handled many cases relating to the control technology, auto mobile, information processing, machine, and optics. He was belonged to the intellectual property department of the optical company for 2 years.
Education : M.E., Waseda University, Mechanical Engineering
B.E., Waseda University, Mechanical Engineering

MEGUMI IYOSHI, Associate        
Ms. Iyoshi focuses her practice on protection and enforcement of electronics and mechanics patents. She prosecutes patent applications in a wide range of technologies, such as liquid crystal display, organic electro luminescence, semiconductor device, semiconductor/LCD inspection system, and laser microscope.
She worked as a developer of LCD in International Display Technology.
She experienced many U. S. patent prosecutions as a trainee in the Sughrue Mion PLLC in 2010.
Education : M.E., Nagoya University, Physics Engineering
B.E., Nagoya University, Physics Engineering

KYOGO SEKI, Associate        
Mr. Seki directs his practice to protection and enforcement of mechanics patents. He specializes in mechanical technology, including continuous-casting machine, textile machinery, car engine accessory, car instrument panel, game machine, compressor, freezer, connector and wind power generation.
After working at motor company, he worked as a patent engineer and a patent attorney at another middle-sized firm. He handled many patent applications in the field of continuous-casting machine, textile machinery, car engine accessory, car instrument panel, game machine, compressor, freezer, and wind power generation in other IP law firm.
Education : M.E., Waseda University, Mechanical Engineering
B.E., Waseda University, Mechanical Engineering

SAKURAKO NAKANO, Associate        
Ms. Nakano prosecutes patent applications in a range of fundamental technologies, such as optics, biotechnology, chemistry, information processing, software, and image processing.
She was engaged in prosecuting patent applications in various fields including image processing, software, commodities, printers, projectors, and optical discs in other patent law firms.
Education : D.Sc., biochemistry and biophysics, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology. She studied ATP synthase which is a molecular motor protein.

JUN UEHARA, Associate        
Mr. Uehara directs his practice to the preparation of patent applications and the responses to office actions in Japan and foreign countries in a variety of fields including control techniques, information processing, and software.
He has experience in system construction, construction designs, maintenance, and operations of seat reservation systems for the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet trains) in the Central Japan Railway Company. He also has experience in preparing patent applications and responding to office actions in the fields of copying machines, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, image processing, software, control techniques, etc. at another intellectual property law firm.
Mr. Uehara is a certified applied information engineer.
Education: M.S., Department of Computational Intelligence and Systems Science, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology

KAZUHIRO KASHIWAGI, Associate        
Mr. Kashiwagi directs his practice to the preparation of patent applications and the responses to office actions in Japan and foreign countries in the fields of commutations/information processing, analyzers, etc.
Previously, he worked as an Examiner and examined more than 2,000 patent applications in the field of electrochemical analyzers, etc. in the Japan Patent Office.
He also has experience in the development of semiconductor material gas supply techniques and analysis techniques in Nippon Sanso Corporation (currently, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation). He also has four years of experience in preparing patent applications and responding to office actions in Japan and foreign countries in the field of commutations/information processing, etc. at another intellectual property law firm.
Education: M.S., Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University
In the above university, Mr. Kashiwagi studied the determination of detailed structures of gaseous molecules in which both experimental electron beam diffraction and theoretical molecular orbital calculation were used.

HIDEKI TAKAHASHI, Associate        
Mr. Takahashi focuses his practice to the preparation and prosecution of patent applications and the responses to office action in Japan and foreign countries in the fields of semiconductor device, etc.
Mr. Takahashi worked as a researcher of nanostructured materials in Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University. Afterwards, he worked for Fujitsu Corporation and Fujitsu Laboratories, where he was engaged in a development of semiconductor device process. He worked as a patent examiner and assistant examiner in Japan Patent Office for five years, during which he examined patent applications relating to semiconductor device. He has experience in preparing patent applications and responding to office actions in the fields of semiconductor device at another intellectual property law firm. He also has experience in research and study in Institute of Intellectual Property.
Education: D.Sc., physics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University. He studied the behavior of metal impurities in semiconductor.

HIROSHI INAGAKI, Associate        
Mr. Inagaki directs his practice to the preparation of patent applications in a variety of fields, including communication, information processing and circuits, and responses to office actions in Japan and foreign countries. He was a local official in Ishikawa prefecture, where he gained experience in the maintenance, inspection, and operation of a hydraulic power plant, and the maintenance and inspection of a water purifying plant. He also gained experience at another intellectual property law office in preparing patent applications in the fields of electrical circuits, semiconductor devices, flash memories, optical discs, software, system LSIs, LCDs, mobile phones, medical imaging devices, infrared imaging devices, etc..
Education: University of Toyama, Electronic and Information Engineering, .M.E.

KAZUYA SHIMIZU, Associate        
Mr. Shimizu directs his practice to protection and enforcement of electronics and software patents. He prosecutes patent applications mainly in information processing technology and communication technology, including cellular phone system and network.
He has 13 years’ experience in preparing patent applications and responding to office actions in Japan and foreign countries mainly for information processing technology and communication technology at other intellectual property law firms.
Education : M.E., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Polymer Science
B.E., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Polymer Science

HIROYUKI YAHATA, Associate        
He gained a lot of practical experience in a corporate intellectual property department, in which he cooperated with corporate inventors to find inventions based on their research and development, filed patent applications for them in Japan and foreign countries, and make efforts to obtain patent rights for them by, for example, submitting arguments etc. in response to Examiners' refusals.
He also gained a lot of experience in interviews with Examiners and Trial Examiners, experience in trials (against the Patent Office and against third parties), and also experience in litigations for rescinding trial decisions.
He has handled many patent applications in the fields of mechanics, optics, and computer-related (mainly software) technologies, and he is qualified as a technical engineer (network).
Since he has also handled many cases as a patent counselor of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association, he can conduct consultations with small and medium enterprises.
Education: B.E., Precision Mechanics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University.

YUKO NAGASAKI, Associate        
Ms. Nagasaki handles patent applications mainly in the fields of communication and information processing technologies, and assists clients in obtaining patent rights by, for example, submitting arguments and amendments in response to Examiners' refusals.
She has experience in development of business systems in a general incorporated foundation and in a patent firm, and is a certified applied information technology engineer.
Education: B.E., Department of Information & Image Science, Chiba University.

TETSUYA YOSHIDA, Associate        
Dr. Yoshida directs his practice to protection and enforcement of computer software patents.
He received his Ph. D in Engineering from Keio University in 2011. His research interests include system software, such as operating system and virtual machine technology.
Before joining this firm, he gained experience in conducting for 8 years patent prosecutions at another intellectual property law firm.

KENJI TASHIRO, Associate        
Mr. Tashiro directs his practice to the preparation of patent applications and the responses to office actions in Japan and foreign countries in the fields of commutations/information processing, etc.
Previously, he worked as a patent examiner in the field of printers, especially for electrophotographic printing, in the Japan Patent Office.
Education: M.E., The University of Tokyo, Department of Multidisciplinary Sciences
B.E., Waseda University, Department of Physics

YOSHIFUMI HORIUCHI, Associate        
Mr. Horiuchi directs his practice to the preparation of patent applications and responses to office actions in Japan and foreign countries in the fields of commutations/information processing, etc. He engaged in a design and development of solar array panels and power control units for satellites, and a design and development of transmitter/receiver modules for defense radars as a dispatch engineer after finishing graduate school.
Education: B.E., The University of Tokyo, Electrical Engineering.

GIRYOU MACHII, Associate        
Mr. Machii engaged in research and development of technologies related to information and communication systems at the Information Technology R&D Center of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and then worked as a patent examiner in the field of information and communication systems at the Japan Patent Office. He also has experience in preparing patent applications and responding to office actions in the fields of information and communication systems at another intellectual property law firm.
At Hibiki, he directs his practice to preparation of patent applications and responses to office actions in Japan and foreign countries in the fields of communications/information processing, etc.
He is a certified technical engineer (in the field of networks) and a certified software development engineer, and has an official approval for JDLA Deep Learning for GENERAL (JDLA Certificate).
Education: M.E., Graduate School of Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba

KAZUYA NAKAJIMA, Associate        
Mr.Nakajima, in graduate school, he studied time-resolved measurement of emission of light in a femto-second range using an optical kerr gate. After completing graduate school, he worked for Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd., where he made strong efforts to obtain patent rights in the field of liquid crystals and electro luminescence for the company by, for example, submitting arguments etc. in response to Examiners' refusals. After obtaining the qualifications to become a patent attorney, he worked for a patent firm, where he engaged in translation of foreign patent application documents mainly in the field of mechanics to be filed with the Japan Patent Office, and assisted foreign clients as well as Japanese clients by submitting arguments etc. in response to Examiners' refusals. At Hibiki, he handles patent applications mainly in the field of mechanics as well as other technical fields, including robotics, information and communication, and electronic circuits, and assists clients in obtaining patent rights for them. Education: M.Eng., Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, YOKOHAMA National University

HIDEO HAYASHI, Associate        
Mr.Hayashi, after graduating from university, he worked as an electrical engineer in the Department of Public Sanitation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to formulate regulations and the like concerning environmental assessments regarding the construction of sanitation plants and to operate the sanitation plants.
After retiring from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, he worked for a patent firm where he assisted clients in Japan and foreign countries in obtaining patent rights for inventions in the fields of control, software, electronic circuits, printers, optical discs, automobiles (hybrid and fuel cell vehicles), and automobile parts by, for example, filing patent applications for such inventions and submitting arguments etc. in response to Examiners' refusals.
At Hibiki, he assists clients in Japan and foreign countries in obtaining patent rights for inventions mainly in the fields of software, information processing, and business models.
He is qualified as an attorney for conducting specific infringement litigations.
Education: B.E., Department of Electronics and Communication, School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University

SHINYA NAGASAWA, Associate        
Mr. Nagasawa directs his practice to the protection and enforcement of a wide range of patents in the electrical, electronics and mechanical fields.
He was previously employed as a patent engineer in the IP department of a precision machinery and equipment manufacturer, and prior to this he helped found a startup company and worked as a patent translator and a patent trial decision and case analyst.
Education: B.S., Electrical Engineering, Doshisha University; MBA, Bond University

ASUMI KARASUDA, Associate        
Ms. Karasuda assists Japanese and international clients in securing and enforcing their trademark and design rights. She has been working in the field of intellectual property since 2017 and has experience in the translation industry. She is proficient in Chinese, English, and Japanese.
Education: B.A., Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University in TAIWAN.

TSUTOMU OTA, Associate        
After gaining experience in physical chemistry research at a university and a graduate school, he joined Hibiki where he engaged in patent practice for several years.
He then left Hibiki to work as a science communicator at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) to communicate about cutting-edge science and technology, particularly with regard to physics and chemistry, with people in an easy-to-understand manner, and to promote citizen-participatory research. In addition, he obtained experience in teaching intellectual property classes. He then rejoined Hibiki, and at present he is handling mainly chemical patent applications and assisting clients in obtaining patent rights by, for example, submitting arguments and amendments in response to Examiners' refusals.
Education, etc.: Ph.D. (Science) Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University; qualified as a science communicator

KENICHI TAMURA, Associate        
Mr. TAMURA worked in the intellectual property department of an automobile manufacturer, where he engaged in the discovery of inventions and the filing of patent applications to obtain patent rights for them, and conducted research on the patent rights of other companies in the field of automobile manufacturing.
In Hibiki, he handles patent applications mainly in the field of machinery, and assists clients in obtaining patent rights by, for example, submitting arguments and amendments in response to Examiners' refusals.
He is qualified as an attorney for handling specific infringement lawsuits.
Education: B.E., Department of Materials and Applied Chemistry, Nihon University