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IP Happy Hour – Patent Litigation Proceedings in J...

IP Happy Hour – Patent Litigation Proceedings in Japan

Effectively Enforcing Patents – Even in the Far East!

Time and again, companies are confronted with patent-infringing counterfeits originating from Asian countries. These counterfeits are typically produced at lower cost and therefore enter the European market at significantly reduced prices.

The providers – often operating in the consumer goods sector and making frequent use of well-known online platforms as sales channels – are frequently difficult to identify. This leaves companies facing practical challenges, such as the proper service of a patent infringement complaint. Against this background, it can be advisable to shift the focus to the manufacturer of the products. However, this also means that the dispute moves abroad, provided that the patent owner also holds patents in the manufacturer’s country of domicile. If this is the case, there is in principle the possibility of pursuing the manufacturer, for example in China, for patent infringement – in particular for injunctive relief and damages.

Yet companies are often unfamiliar with the national particularities of such proceedings. It is therefore difficult to assess how promising such an approach might be in a given case, how long proceedings may take, and what costs might be expected. Added to this is the recurring question of which evidence must be submitted to the respective national court in order to prove a patent infringement.

With our IP HAPPY HOUR series “Patent Litigation in Asia”, we aim to provide insights at three events into the typical course of patent litigation in the particularly relevant Asian markets of China, Japan and India.

For this purpose, we have invited experts from each of these jurisdictions, who will be available for questions following their respective presentations.

We are particularly pleased to welcome Ms. Shimako Kato as speaker for our second session on the topic of Japan.

About the Speaker

Ms. Kato is a patent attorney and partner at the renowned law firm Abe, Ikubo & Katayama. She received her Bachelor of Engineering from Waseda University in 1988. From 1988 to 2006 she worked at the Japan Patent Office – first as a patent examiner and later as a member of the Board of Appeal in the field of metal and polymer processing.

In 1998, she was awarded a scholarship by the National Personnel Authority to the European Patent Office and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. From 2002 to 2005 she was seconded to the Tokyo District Court as a judicial research official. Within the IP division of the court, she provided judges with expert advice on technical issues in patent infringement cases in the chemical field, as well as in other intellectual property cases.

In 2006, she was admitted as a patent attorney and joined Abe, Ikubo & Katayama. Since then, she has mainly handled patent infringement litigation and invalidation trials. In 2013, she broadened her knowledge of German patent litigation practice under Judge Thomas Kühnen at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.

Since 2018, she has also been a faculty member in the LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law programme at Waseda University.

Further information on her career can be found here.

Event Details

WHEN: 16 October 2025, 11:00 a.m. (CET)
WHERE: Online Webinar
SPEAKER: Shimako Kato
DURATION: approx. 45 min presentation + 15 min Q&A

Registration

To register, please send an email to IPDAY@maucherjenkins.com. After receiving your registration, we will send you the access link to the webinar.

Participation is free of charge. The presentation will be held in English.