Minatomirai Patent Firm and Takasaki Law Office Announce Business Partnership

Minatomirai Patent Firm (located in Yokohama, Kanagawa; Representative: Tomoko Tsujita) and Takasaki Law Office (located in Shibuya, Tokyo; Representative: Hitoshi Takasaki) have launched a business partnership to achieve one-stop support for intellectual property disputes, from invalidation trials to appeals against trial decisions and infringement lawsuits.

Purpose and Overview of the Business Partnership

This partnership aims to build a system capable of providing one-stop support from invalidation trials to appeals against trial decisions and infringement lawsuits.

In terms of structure, Attorney Hitoshi Takasaki of Takasaki Law Office leads the legal side, while patent attorneys Tomoko Tsujita and Daisuke Muramatsu of Minatomirai Patent Firm lead the technical side, handling cases by combining their respective expertise.

Both firms have extensive experience in IP dispute cases, but with this partnership, they aim to closely collaborate from both legal and technical perspectives to derive optimal solutions for each case.

Initially, they will focus on dispute resolution in the pharmaceutical field, where both firms have deep collaborative experience, and plan to gradually expand to other areas.

Through an integrated team that fuses legal and technical aspects, they will demonstrate high-level proposal capabilities unique to joint efforts between specialized firms, while minimizing communication burden and cost, achieving swift and effective dispute resolution.

Services Provided through This Partnership

1. One-stop support from invalidation trials to infringement lawsuits

Legal and technical experts closely collaborate from the initial stage to formulate robust resolution strategies from multiple perspectives. By maintaining consistency of arguments across phases from invalidation trials to appeals and infringement lawsuits, and providing optimal responses to the Patent Office and courts, they dramatically enhance the quality of dispute resolution.

2. Convenience like a comprehensive firm and total cost optimization

By establishing a one-stop system, they eliminate the hassle of explaining separately to multiple firms and information gaps, providing the integrated convenience of a single comprehensive firm. They also reduce redundant costs that often occur when separately instructing multiple firms, enabling service provision at appropriate prices through consistent collaboration.

Expert and Firm Information

■Takasaki Law Office

Attorney Hitoshi Takasaki

[Specialties]

Intellectual property disputes in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, IT, and telecommunications; legal advice on approval applications under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act (including PMDA correspondence) and drug price listing; medical data and AI regulations; digital health and SaMD; regulatory legal affairs and IP strategies in biotechnology; license negotiations; commercial transactions and ADR.

[Career]

1993: Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law
1995: Joined Nishimura & Sanada Law Office (now Nishimura & Asahi)
1998: Transferred to Kaneko & Iwamatsu Law Office
2003: LL.M. from New York University School of Law; passed New York State Bar Exam; worked as an associate at Andrews Kurth L.L.P. (Dallas, Texas)
2005: Transferred to Shimpo Law Office
2011: Partner at Shimpo & Takasaki Law Office
2019: Established Takasaki Law Office

[Achievements]

Involved in numerous cases including: Celecoxib appeal against trial decision (2022 (Gyo-ke) No. 10127, etc.), Oxaliplatin Tokyo District Court decision (2015 (Wa) No. 28468), Maxacalcitol IP High Court Grand Panel decision and Supreme Court decision (2015 (Ne) No. 10014, 2016 (Ju) No. 1242), Pioglitazone Tokyo District Court decision (2011 (Wa) No. 19435, 19436), as well as related invalidation trial proceedings, submission of opinions to PMDA expert committees, legal advice to both brand and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, and advisory roles for pharmaceutical companies.

In 2018, he was selected as a Leading Lawyer in Intellectual Property Law in Japan by Asialaw.

Firm Information

Firm Name: Takasaki Law Office

Address: 301 Corinne Daikanyama, 1-33-25 Ebisu Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0021

Phone: 03-5784-1080
Website: https://itip-law.com/

■Minatomirai Patent Firm

Patent Attorney Tomoko Tsujita

[Specialties]

Patent acquisition, trials, and patent dispute resolution in chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, organic materials, medical devices, diagnostic equipment, etc.

[Career]

2002: Graduated from Ochanomizu University, Faculty of Science
2005: Registered as patent attorney; joined Shuwa Patent Office
2010: Established Minatomirai Patent Office
2023: Established Minatomirai Patent Firm (incorporated)

[Achievements]

Acted as representative in: Rosuvastatin IP High Court Grand Panel case (2016 (Gyo-ke) No. 10182, 10184), Pitavastatin patent infringement lawsuit (IP High Court 2022 (Ne) No. 10052), Bortezomib appeal against trial decision (2018 (Gyo-ke) No. 10158, 10113), related invalidation trial proceedings and Aripiprazole patent invalidation trial (Invalidation 2018-800113). Also served as party advisor in Maxacalcitol IP High Court Grand Panel case and Supreme Court case (2015 (Ne) No. 10014, 2016 (Ju) No. 1242).

Patent Attorney Daisuke Muramatsu

[Specialties]

Pharmaceuticals (small molecule, medium molecule), biopharmaceuticals (antibodies, recombinant proteins, etc.), regenerative medicine products (cell preparations, nucleic acid drugs, etc.), biotechnology, bioinformatics, cosmetics, food, dispute resolution (invalidation trials, litigation), drug discovery startup support.

[Career]

2011: Research Associate at RIKEN engaged in basic research
2013: Ph.D. from Kyoto University Graduate School of Biostudies
2013-present: Minatomirai Patent Office (now Minatomirai Patent Firm)
2022: Member of the Japan Patent Office Trial Practice Research Group
2025-present: Mentor at PARKS (Platform for All Regions of Kyushu & Okinawa for Startup-ecosystem); Expert committee candidate for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Patent Linkage System
2026-present: Expert Committee Member for the Intellectual Property High Court (also serving at Tokyo District Court and Osaka District Court); Chair of the Bio-Life Science Committee of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association; Member of the IP System Study Committee / AI Utilization Working Group

[Achievements]

Acted as representative in: Rosuvastatin IP High Court Grand Panel case (2016 (Gyo-ke) No. 10182, 10184), Pitavastatin patent infringement lawsuit (IP High Court 2022 (Ne) No. 10052), Bortezomib appeal against trial decision (2018 (Gyo-ke) No. 10158, 10113), related invalidation trial proceedings and Aripiprazole patent invalidation trial (Invalidation 2018-800113). Also has extensive experience in advisory roles for generic pharmaceutical manufacturers and IP strategy consulting for drug discovery startups.

Firm Information

Firm Name: Minatomirai Patent Firm

Address: 〒220-6008