List of Services | Shobayashi International Patent & Trademark Office

Application and registration

Application and intermediate treatment of Japanese patents, practical models, trademarks, and designs

As an agent, we handle all requirements and procedures starting from the application for registration of patents, practical models, trademarks, and designs with the Japanese Patent Office, all the way towards a successful registration.
Of course we will protect the rights of your company's operations. We can also help you decide whether to grant a license to use your IP to other companies.

See here for more information.

Application and intermediate treatment for foreign patents, practical models, trademarks, and designs

Since we use the Japanese application as a starting point, we can handle applications for patents, practical models, trademarks, and designs for several countries and regions outside Japan, including a first-foreign application.

Copyright registration (inside and outside Japan)

Copyright registration increases transaction safety relating to transfer of rights and opposition to third parties.
In some countries, there are nuances beyond simply having rights to IP when defending the IP, and copyright registration is an additional protection.

Domain acquisition and renewal management inside and outside Japan

We can acquire Internet domains, and since there are various types of domains for each country and region, we can acquire and manage renewal of domains in order to fit your needs in every country and region.
Domain management with a trademark right is an effective approach.

Electronic notary

This is a service where there is know-how and patentability but no plan for disclosure regarding information about offering partners, confidential intellectual property or business negotiations. It proves to third parties which person in fact owns that intellectual property (ownership without falsification) and when the ownership began, because of prior use rights and to prevent misappropriation.
Actions to protect the intellectual property of former employees before filing an application are also possible.

Discovery work

We can help identify the intellectual property at your company. We can provide various types of advice, not only about patent discovery, but also advice using our know-how to protect intellectual property that is patentable and should be protected using know-how and advice about the filing of preliminary applications.

Opinions and inspection of prior art

Opinions (opinions of validity and invalidity)

We estimate and give opinions on the possibility of invalidity, i.e. that a patents of other companies or individuals are invalid.
We also estimate and give opinions on the possibility of validity i.e. the possibility that your company's patent is valid or will not be invalidated.

Inspection of invalid data

We search a specific patent for invalid data. For the patents of other companies, we may search the data of specific patents and estimate and give an opinion the possibility of your company's patent being invalid.

Inspection of prior art (inspection of prior art before application)

Besides the contents of the invention itself, we inspect the prior documents to see if the necessary conditions for novelty and invention are satisfied before applying.

Inspection of infringement (inspection of conflict)

We work with many patent attorneys who have experience as patent office examiners, appeal examiners, and judicial research officials, so they can offer you informed judgments based on inside experience relating to the validity of rights and the possibilities of infringement.

Trials

Trial for dissatisfaction

A trial to declare dissatisfaction with a final rejection issued by a patent examiner.

Trial for invalidation

A trial to petition the patent office to invalidate a patent or trademark that should not have been registered in the first place.

Infringement and lawsuits

Litigation to rescind a trial decision

Conducting litigation when the result of a trial for dissatisfaction of a final rejection is dissatisfaction, raising dissatisfaction to the court, and naming the director general of the patent office as a defendant.

Infringement lawsuits

In cooperation with a law firm, we can also participate in an infringement lawsuit in various ways depending on the needs of the client.

Support for foreign lawsuits

For lawsuits relating to intellectual property rights in a foreign country, we can introduce lawyers to fit your budget, and we can provide opinions and support concerning technical viewpoints and suitability of expenses.
We can also attend a strategic meeting with you and give you technical comments from the patent perspective.

Monitoring

Monitoring of applications from other companies (inside and outside Japan)

This is a service that monitors your competitors or other companies of interest, or focuses on the technology in question to see which companies are submitting applications.
Not only in Japan, but also starting with China and other countries when indicated, we also monitor public information of foreign patents and can provide translations if necessary.

Dealing with unauthorized use

Focusing on trademarks, this is a service that primarily monitors web information where the probability of infringement of your trademarks is high.

Dealing with customs

We provide assistance relating to the prohibition of counterfeit goods at customs.

Dealing with written warnings against infringing products

This is a service that, together with a lawyer, issues warnings against infringing products.

Inspections

Inspection when purchasing another company (at the time of investment)

When you are purchasing or investing in a company, we research the status of the intellectual property in the principal products of that company. In other words, we conduct due diligence from the perspective of intellectual property.
Specifically, for example, we analyze the value of the intellectual property as necessary by looking at both the future risk analysis of whether or not there is a possibility of patent infringement in the key commodities of the said company, and by judging of the technological strength of the intellectual property of that company compared to that of its competitors.

Analysis of the value of intellectual property owned by your company

Regarding intellectual property (mainly patents) that your company owns, we research its necessity and whether or not and how much it affects the market.

Analysis of the application status of patents of other companies

From the application status of patents, we analyze which fields a specific company is emphasizing in terms of development.

Inspection of the salability of your company’s technology

When you are thinking of selling your technology, we analyze who you could sell it to based on public information about IP applications.

Business strategy inspection

Using a patent right, we can conduct various types of inspections to search for partners by offering materials for planning business strategies from the visualization of intellectual property in a “macroanalysis” that uses various types of maps, including historical, bubble, matrix, citation, and comparative maps, and by providing a more concrete analysis of partners (cooperative industry candidates or candidates for purchase) who possess technology that may be potential targets by looking at the influence and technical details of the patent right.

Intellectual Property Value Assessment

Financial Value Assessment of Intellectual Property

Learning the economic value of intellectual property rights owned by the company will provide critical information for the company itself, and also for others who develop business with the company (through transactions such as sales, financing or collateral).
Financial value assessment of intellectual property will also allow us to assess the value of the intellectual property as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the company in business fields where the company is planning to develop or has already developed their business.
When we identify further weaknesses, we will comprehensively assess the financial value of the intellectual property by analyzing the risk involved with these weaknesses.
We can also provide a Written Opinion as necessary.

Intellectual Property Business Assessment Report

Companies, and in particular small to mid-sized companies, will enjoy a great advantage in developing their business if they can clearly show the strengths of their technologies and knowledge/experience and their growth potential.
An Intellectual Property Business Assessment Report will allow you to understand the entire business of such a company from the perspective of intellectual property.
You can identify the strengths of the company, understand whether the strengths are being used at full value, making their products attractive to consumers, or how much they contribute to their cash flow.
A third-party assessment can be used not only for learning the true value of the company’s intellectual property besides the numbers in the financial statements, but also for making a business assessment of the company from the viewpoint of intellectual property, when you are considering providing financing to the company; as a reference material for determining valuations when buying or selling a business; or for assessing the value of intellectual property required for legal procedures such as property division or seizure.

Management

Intellectual property management database service

We offer a database that can manage the current progress status of patents, practical models, designs, and trademarks as necessary. If we can handle this at our office, the status is automatically renewed when necessary and information about your company and all its offices are included in the data, and we can perform uniform management of the status as a whole.

Management of maintenance fees and payment representation for domestic and foreign patents, practical models, trademarks, and designs

Regarding the maintenance fees of patents and trademarks, we perform term management and payment representation.

Other

Management agreements

We provide advice related to common intellectual property management agreements. Our staff members provide advice for many types of situations related to such agreements.

Representation as your company’s intellectual property department

We are entrusted with serving in the intellectual property department at your company. From discovery to judging right acquisitiosn and managing the work at the application site, we operate as a member of your intellectual property department. Of course, we can also permanently provide this service to your company.

Support for license negotiation

When negotiating a license between your company and another company, we provide support and give advice from different viewpoints.