2016.04.01:   Revision of the examination standard with regard to food related inventions of use

One year after the start of the functional food system the JPO revised the examination standard for food related inventions of use. Before the revision the examination standard mentioned examples that “cannot be defined as invention of use” for food related inventions limited to use. After the revision, if a new function of a common food is found, it will be acknowledged as a new use and the invention of use will be acknowledged to have novelty. The revised examination standard will be applied from April 1, 2016.

2016.03.25:   Start of a system that allows filing foreign language applications in a language other than English

Section 25.4 of the implementing regulations of the Japan Patent Law that relates to foreign language applications has been revised, and now it is possible to file foreign language applications in one of any languages in addition to English (as from April 1, 2016).

2016.01.07:   Presentation at the GIPC

From January 7-9, 2016, the "8th Global IP Convention" was held in New Deli (India) with 453 participants, from 86 companies from 35 countries and 138 intellectual property service providers.

Mr. Kiyoshi Kuzuwa, Patent Attorney, Head of KUZUWA & PARTNERS took the platform as speaker in the "Technical Session XVII: Role of IP in forming strategies for Pharma Industries" and gave a lecture on "IP and Regulatory Issues in Export of Pharmaceuticals to Japan", informing about obstacles that Indian companies might face when entering the Japanese pharmaceutical market and how to deal with them, with focus especially on pharmaceutical regulations in intellectual property.

2015.04.01:   Strengthening of the pharmaceutical business in our firm

Recently a lot of intellectual property high courts have been involved in cases regarding the extension of patent terms. As decisions of the high courts show the issue with intellectual property in the pharmaceutical field is, that it causes controversies quite often. A lot of these issues are not only related to intellectual property, but have their origin in pharmaceutical affairs, making these issues even more complicated.

In April 2015 we have established a new structure in order to deal upfront with issues related to medicine products and regenerative medicine products that go to the core of the intellectual property system.

That means we will act as the bridge between pharmaceuticals and intellectual property and further get a good hold of problems that arise from there. In order to solve them we will gather talent and information and will respond to the needs of our outbound clients in a practical matter.

To achieve this in addition to our lawyers and technical staff we deployed specialized staff like Mr. Tsuyoshi Hagiwara (graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, and studied international relations at Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the same university (M.A. degrees in Human Security Studies).) and two expert consultants in this field from India, Dr. Sankaran & Ms. Singh. We would appreciate if we could assist you with your intellectual property strategy for your pharmaceutical patents.

2015.02.14:   Presentation at a seminar in India（Gujarat）

Mr. Kiyoshi Kuzuwa, Patent Attorney, Head of KUZUWA & PARTNERS, was invited to the 10th Annual International Seminar of MarkPatent which was held in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. He gave a presentation with the title “PTE/Reexamination and IP/Regulatory strategy of generics in Japanese market”. Gurajat is not only the birthplace of Prime Minister Modi and therefore has been target of development support from the government to turn it into a driving center for the medical and automobile industry, but has also shown a lot of excitement in the intellectual property field by involving universities and local companies. Supported by the local media this seminar was a great success.

2014.03.26:   Presentation at the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh (Society of German chemists)) and publication of “ESZ/SPC”（Supplimentary Protection Certificatres）by the Carl Heymanns Verlag (2015)

Mr. Kiyoshi Kuzuwa, Patent Attorney, Head of KUZUWA & PARTNERS and Ms. Misa Odagiri, Patent attorney, were invited to a workshop held by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker in Frankfurt, Germany. They gave a presentation with the title “Exclusive rights relating to drug invention in Japan”.

Including an introduction of a high court decision about the extension request for the patent term of a medicine product from Takeda Pharmaceutical that was released in 2011, they explained the rights for pharmaceutical inventions with focus on the extension of patent term and re-examination systems.

The content of the presentation was published in January 2015 in “ESZ/SPC Kommentar（Ergänzende Schutzzertifikate）” by the Carl Heymanns Verlag (2015).

2013.06.01:   Our branch office in China

We opened our branch office in Shanghai, China in June 1, 2013. We believe that the branch office will provide a foothold for business activity in China.

2011.09.20:   We have moved!

We are pleased to announce that we have moved into the new office at 17th Floor of Nishi-Shinjuku Mitsui Building on September 20, 2011. We are convinced that we could dedicate our better services to your intellectual property activity through more efficient operation in our new office. Your visit to our new office is highly welcome.