Yuki JonoTwo patent attorneys, Yuki Jono and Jun Aoyama, have launched Aoyama Jono Patent & Law Firm in Tokyo, Japan.
Both are members of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association and will serve as founding partners, with Jono also assuming the role of managing partner and representative attorney-at-law.
Aoyama is a patent attorney (benrishi) and a representative patent attorney of the firm. Jono is also both an attorney-at-law (bengoshi) and a patent attorney (benrishi).
Jono starts the new venture after more than a year as a lawyer at Japanese law firm Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu. Aoyama previously served as president and representative director of Kaneko Sangyo, a Japanese manufacturer of industrial valves and safety devices.
The decision to establish Aoyama Jono Patent & Law Firm stemmed from the lack of legal professionals in Japan who could handle matters involving AI-related patent prosecution, Jono said.
“Japan currently has very few lawyers and patent attorneys equipped to handle sophisticated AI-related patent prosecution. I am one of only 10 attorneys in the country who previously served as a patent examiner, and we founded the firm precisely to meet that need. Around 80% of our professionals are former examiners – a proportion unmatched by any other firm in Japan,” he told Asia Business Law Journal.
“We chose this moment to launch because AI is developing and permeating society at such a pace that the demand for genuinely specialised advice in the field has never been greater.”
He said the firm would focus on the full cycle of AI-related IP, from prosecution to the monetisation and commercial exploitation of the resulting rights. Additionally, corporate and regulatory matters involving AI and other emerging technologies will be another area of focus.
As of right now, Aoyama Jono Patent & Law Firm has a team of six, but Jono said there were plans to grow the team going forward.
“Our aim is to consolidate our position as Japan’s only patent and law firm dedicated to AI, principally by recruiting further former patent examiners,” he said.
During the next 12 months, Jono wants the firm to grow its reputation as a leader in the market for AI patent filings.
“In the short term, over the next 12 months, we want Aoyama Jono to be the first name that comes to mind whenever anyone in the market thinks of AI patent filings,” he said.
“Over the longer term, my ambition is to build a firm of the first rank for AI and frontier technologies, assembled from outstanding people – former examiners and professionals with strong scientific and engineering training.”