Our Attorneys | NII Patent Firm

Hiromori Nii

Areas of Specialization

Software, Electricity, Electronics, Physics

Certifications

Patent Attorney; Information Technology Engineer, 1st Class; Radio Engineer, 2nd Class; Licensed Electrician, 3rd Class; Color TV Repair Technician; Radiation Protection Supervisor, 2nd Class; Amateur Radio Operator, Level 2; Test of Practical English Proficiency (EIKEN), Pre-Level 1; Accountant Level 2; others

Affiliations

Japan Patent Attorneys Association, International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property of Japan (AIPPI JAPAN), Kansai Patent Attorneys Study Group, others

Background

Mar. 1978: B.S., Nuclear Engineering, School of Engineering, Osaka University
Apr. 1978 – Oct.1993: Worked as an electronics engineer at TOYO Corporation
Sep. 1994 – Nov. 2000: Worked as a patent engineer at Nakajima International Patent Firm
Nov. 1996: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
Dec. 1996: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 10921)
Jun. 1998 – Jul. 1998: Completed Patent Affairs Training Course, BKSB LLP (Virginia, U.S.)
Dec. 2000: Established NII Patent Firm

Special skills

Early allowance through interviews with patent examiners

Hobbies

Go (Japanese board game), Swimming

Shinichi Michisaka

Technical Fields

Electricity, Machinery

Certifications and others

Patent Attorney

Member of intellectual property system promotion committee at Kinki Branch of Japan Patent Attorneys Association
(2004 to Present: committee chairman in 2010; and committee vice-chairman in 2008, 2009, and 2011)

Member of Kansai Patent Attorneys Study Group (vice-chairman of patent utility model subgroup in 2011, and chairman of the same in 2012)

Background

1996: B.S., Mechanical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kanazawa University
1998: M.S., Mechanical Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kanazawa University
1998-2009: Worked at Panasonic Corporation (involved in domestic and foreign patent acquisition and patent application matters at divisional and head office intellectual property departments)
2003: Qualified and Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 13141)
2004-2011: Adjunct faculty member at Faculty of Engineering, Kanazawa University
2009: Joined NII Patent Firm
2015: Completed the Patent and Intellectual Property Law and Practice Summer Institute hosted by the Center for Advanced Study and Research on Intellectual Property (CASRIP) at the University of Washington

Special skills

Acquisition of domestic and foreign patents (working to define inventions, preparation of patent applications and documents for response to Office Action, interview with patent examiners)

Providing support for corporate intellectual property matters (intellectual property management, intellectual property strategy planning, intellectual property assessment, intellectual property instruction, intellectual property negotiation)

Patent search (prior art search, business risk assessment)

Hobbies

Marathon, Snowboarding, Golf (wanting to try)

Eisaku Teratani

Technical Fields

Software, Image Processing, Physics

Certifications

Patent Attorney; Patent Infringement Litigator;Senior Radiation Protection Supervisor

Background

1993: B.S., Nuclear Engineering, School of Engineering, Osaka University
1995: M.S., Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University
1995-1999: Worked at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (involved in design work related to radiation measurement)
1999-2001: Worked at Hokuto Patent Office
2001: Joined NII Patent Firm
2005: Qualified and Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 13723)
2006: Completed Patent Practice Internship at BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT Law Firm in Germany
2008: Qualified as Patent Infringement Litigator

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications and documents for response to Office Action

Hobbies

Movies, Fishing

Shuichi Yoshikawa

Technical Field

Electricity, Control Engineering, Machinery, Semiconductor Device, High Frequency Device, Electronic Circuit, Battery

Certification

Patent Attorney; Ph.D. in Engineering; Information Technology Engineer, 2nd Class

Background

1987: B.S., Control Engineering, School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
1989: M.Eng., Control Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
1989: Worked at Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (involved in research on superconducting device at laboratory)
1992-1994: Involved in research on high frequency Josephson device at Superconductivity Research Laboratory of International Superconductivity Technology Center
1997: Ph.D., Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
1998: Worked at Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (involved in high frequency device development project)
2007: Joined NII Patent Firm
2012: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2013: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 18943)
2014: Completed the Patent and Intellectual Property Law and Practice Summer Institute hosted by the Center for Advanced Study and Research on Intellectual Property (CASRIP) at the University of Washington

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications related to inventions of electronic device, electric circuit, and semiconductor process
Preparation of documents for response to Office Action

Hobbies

Ball games such as table tennis, baseball, and golf, Jogging, and Karaoke (Japanese oldies from 70's and 80's)

Toshiya Kido

Technical Field

Structures (Industrial machines, Semiconductors, Hard materials, Appliances, etc.), Mechatronics (Industrial machine control, optimization, inspection, sensing, etc.), Physics (Vacuum and cleaning technology, Plasma, PVD, etc.)

Certification

Patent Attorney

Background

1990: M.S., Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka City University (Thesis Subject: Observation of Oxygen Excitation Phenomena Caused by a Laser Beam on the Surface of a Substance)
1990: Worked at Kobe Steel, Ltd. (developing vacuum coating technology [especially hard material films for cutting tools, sliding films for sliding components], plasma cleaning technology and wet cleaning technology)
1995: Worked at Shimizu Patent Attorneys Office
2002: Qualified and Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 12487)
2004: Joined NII Patent Firm
2006: Completed Patent Practice Internship at Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch (BSKB) Intellectual Property Law Firm (Virginia, U.S.)

Special skills

Working to assess, research, define and develop inventions

Hobbies

Fishing

Masaki Nakahara

Technical Fields

Structures, Mechatronics, Software

Certifications

Patent Attorney; Patent Infringement Litigator; Qualified Supervisor for Energy Management, Scaffolding Construction Chief Supervisor, Crane Operation Technician, Supervisor for Hazardous Operation Associated with Oxygen Depletion and Hydrogen Sulfide

Background

1995: M.S., Precision Engineering, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (Thesis Subject: Research on Insertion of Thin Rod Using Magnetic Levitation Mechanism)
1995: Worked as an engineer and supervisor at Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.
2006: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2007: Joined NII Patent Firm
2007: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 15322)
2008: Qualified as Patent Infringement Litigator
2009: Completed Patent Affairs Training Course, BKSB LLP (Virginia, U.S.)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications related to machinery inventions

Hobbies

Travelling, Family Activities

Jyunichi Komata

Technical Fields

Electricity, Machinery

Certifications

Patent Attorney

Background

2001: B.S., Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Doshisha University
2001: Worked at Kyoto Denkiki Co., Ltd. (involved in intellectual property services and production engineering services)
2004: Worked at Kishimoto & Associates
2006: Qualified and Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 14846)
2011: Joined NII Patent Firm

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications and documents for response to Office Action

Hobbies

Travelling, Visiting Cafes

Yasuhiko Hino

Technical Fields

Machinery, Mechatronics, Network

Certifications

Patent Attorney; Patent Infringement Litigator

Background

1990: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
1990: Worked as a sales representative for scientific and engineering calculation services (structure, fluid, chemistry) at RECRUIT CO., LTD.
1992: Worked as an instructor and a manager of instructors at English Kids Network
1996: Worked as an Internet Division chief at AXIS Inc.
2001: Worked as a Web director and technical director at KOHGA Corporation
2004: Joined NII Patent Firm
2007: Qualified and Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 15561)
2008: Completed Patent Affairs Training Course, BKSB LLP (Virginia, U.S.)
2009: Qualified as Patent Infringement Litigator

Special skills

Working to define and develop inventions, preparation of patent applications and documents for response to Office Action

Hobbies

Music, Playing Guitar, Watching Soccer Matches

Kenichiro Kidou

Technical Fields

Machinery, Electricity

Certifications

Patent Attorney

Background

1987: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Doshisha University
1987-2014: Worked at Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (designed facilities and served as patent liaison in Production Engineering Unit, and then involved in patent application and acquisition matters in Intellectual Property Department)
2005: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2008: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 15819)
2014: Worked at Nishizawa Patent Firm
2015: Joined NII Patent Firm

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications and Intellectual property stragety planning

Hobbies

DVD viewing (Star Trek)

Hiroaki Sumii

Technical Fields

Software, Information Processing

Certifications

Patent Attorney; Information Technology Engineer, 1st Class; Application Engineer; Technical Engineer (Database)

Background

1996: B.S., Mathematics School of Science, Kobe University
1996: Involved in the design and development of business applications (accounting systems and sales management systems) as an systems engineer at NTT DATA Sekisui Systems Corporation (formerly known as Sekisui Systems Corporation).
2008: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2009: Joined NII Patent Firm
2009: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 16342)
2010: Completed Patent Affairs Training Course, BKSB LLP (Virginia, U.S.)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications related to software inventions

Hobbies

Jogging

Seiji Santo

Technical Fields

Software, Machinery, Mechatronics

Certifications

Patent Attorney; Information Technology Engineer, 1st Class

Background

1997: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
1999: M.S., Energy Conversion Science, Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University
1999-2007: Worked at JGC Corporation (involved in consultation and systems design for manufacturing businesses)
2007: Joined NII Patent Firm
2009: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2010: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 16812)
2013: Completed Patent Affairs Training Course, BKSB LLP (Virginia, U.S.)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications related to software inventions and documents for response to Office Action

Hobbies

Watching Sport, Reading Books

Masaaki Sobajima

Technical Field

Optics, Electricity

Certification and others

Patent Attorney;Ph.D. in Energy Science; Senior Radiation Protection Supervisor

Background

1999: Ph.D., Energy Conversion Science, Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University
1999: Worked at Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (involved in research and development)
2005: Worked as Fixed-term Patent Examiner at JPO
2012: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2013: Joined NII Patent Firm
2013: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 19080)

Special skills

Search for Prior Art

Hobbies

Drive

Toshiya Takami

Technical Field

Electricity, Information Processing, Machinery

Certification and others

Patent Attorney; Applied Information Technology Engineer

Background

2003: B.S., Undergraduate School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
2003: Worked at Victor Company of Japan, Limited (involved in development of deflection yoke and optical pickup (CD/DVD dual wavelength integrated device))
2010: Worked at FUJITSU TEN TECHNOLOGY., INC (involved in designing of car navigation system and acquisition of product certification)
2011: Joined NII Patent Firm
2013: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2014: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 19663)

Special skills

Preparation of application documents

Hobbies

Guitar (and air guitar), Japanese fencing (second grade)

Takehiro Sato

Technical Field

Electricity, Information Processing, Circuitry

Certification and others

Patent Attorney

Background

2005: M.S., Electrical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University
2005: Worked at Hokuto Patent Attorneys Office
2016: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2017: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 21132)
2020: Joined NII Patent Firm

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications

Hobbies

Futsal, Road bike, Video game (console, PC)

Hideto Manno

Technical Field

Electricity, Information Processing, Circuit

Certification and others

Patent Attorney; Chief Telecommunications Engineer; First-class Technical Radio Operator for On-the-Ground Services; Fundamental Information Technology Engineer; Official Business Skill Test in Book-keeping: 2nd Grade

Background

2008: M.Eng., Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
2008-2014: Worked at Hosiden Corporation (involved in analog circuit design, high-frequency circuit design, embedded software development, etc.)
2014: Joined NII Patent Firm
2018: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2019: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 21743)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications

Hobbies

Music Appreciation

Takeshi Nakase

Technical Field

Machinery, Electricity

Certification and others

Patent Attorney

Background

2009: B.S., Energy Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Doshisha University
2009: Worked at AISIN AW Co., Ltd. (involved in development of automotive transmissions)
2010: Worked at Wise Registration and Surveyors Co., Ltd. (involved in registration and surveying services)
2015: Worked at Tatsumi Patent Firm
2019: Joined NII Patent Firm
2021: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2021: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 22560)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications

Hobbies

Drive

Shota Shimada

Technical Field

Electricity, Information Processing, Semiconductor, Machinery

Certification and others

Patent Attorney, Applied Information Technology Engineer

Background

2005: B.S., Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
2007: Joined NII Patent Firm
2011: Traveled overseas (Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, Antarctica, etc.)
2013: Rejoined NII Patent Firm
2021: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2021: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 22567)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications

Hobbies

Foreign travel (102 countries visited as of 2023)

Hiroyuki Iizuka

Technical Field

Communications, Information Processing, Physics

Certification and others

Patent Attorney, Technical Engineer (Network), Software Design & Development Engineer, Teaching License (high school science)

Background

1999: B.S., Physics, Faculty of Science, Kanazawa University
2001: M.S., Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Graduate School of Natural Science & Technology, Kanazawa University
2001: Worked at NEC Communication Systems, Ltd. (involved in development of communication equipment (e.g., router, LAN switch, Wi-Fi access point), and research and development of new communications technology)
2011: Joined NII Patent Firm
2021: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2021: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 22573)

Special skills

Preparation of patent applications and documents for response to Office Action

Hobbies

Table tennis, Shogi (Japanese chess), Woodworking, Tending goldfish, Tending plants

Katsuki Yamada

Technical Field

Information Processing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Mechatronics

Certification and others

Patent Attorney, JDLA Certificate (Passed JDLA Deep Learning for General 2023#2)

Background

1999: B.S., School of Informatics and Mathematical Science (Computer Science Course), Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
2001: M.S., Communications and Computer Engineering, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University
2008: Joined NII Patent Firm
2022: Passed Patent Attorney Examination
2023: Registered as Patent Attorney (Registration No. 23020)

Special skills

Preparation of Japanese and foreign patent applications (drawings)

Hobbies

Traveling, Road bike, Book reading, Learning new IT techniques, Foreign social networking via the internet