As president of Landon IP, how do you manage the organisation to ensure that clients receive the highest standard of service while all staff fulfil their potential?
As well as correctly assigning the most appropriate talent to each project, I would focus on finding the real insights detected in the search through thorough communication with the client. At the same time, I would encourage staff to more widely and deeply enhance their technical knowledge.
What recent decisions or legislative developments are having the biggest impact on IP strategy in Japan right now, and why?
AI affects various concepts, practice and peripheral services, such as auto-drafting. Now, it is time for us to revisit some fundamental considerations, including:
- What is an invention?
- What is originality?
- How can we make our tasks efficient using AI without legal risks?
What aspects of your work do you enjoy most, and why?
Consultative work, which would be done not just by myself, but through mutual and deep communication with the client. This is very important and productive work, and its results always lead both the client and us to the best solution.
As an established expert in IP valuation, what are the key characteristics of a strong intangible asset valuation strategy?
First, do not regard every patent as separate – always try to find a mutual correlation (or ‘chemistry’) between them. Second, careful consideration of portfolio management should be undertaken even the invention is not mature.
What is your proudest professional achievement to date, and why does it stand out?
It is difficult to disclose details about specific deals due to confidentiality, but speaking generally, technology transfer projects are quite impressive to me. There are so many items to be negotiated – not just concerning legal aspects but also technology, HR management, business models and local regulatory issues. Sometimes, with Chinese entities for example, negotiations require a deep understanding of the other party’s culture and history.
What are the biggest challenges surrounding licensing or negotiations within new markets, and how can one overcome these?
Recognise unwritten context for both parties. It’s crucial to understand not just the players in the new market but also ourselves. In many cases, failure to understand such context can cause serious gaps in recognition and result in a slow negotiation that eventually breaks down.
How do you stay abreast of all the latest IP developments in the many sectors in which Landon IP operates?
Clients are the greatest teachers. However, another effective and efficient way to stay updated is by attending conferences and events and being a member of academic societies.
What are the biggest threats and opportunities that you see emerging in the tech space, and how are you preparing to meet these?
Generative AI will change the entire process of our industry. We should prepare by understanding its features in order to cement our approach to various circumstances (ie, search scope, costs and emerging novel services).
If you could change anything about the patent enforcement process in Japan, what would it be, and do you think it is likely to happen?
If the discovery process were to become stricter like in the United States, I would hope that this would encourage Japanese SMEs to file more patents. However, this would require careful discussion from various perspectives, and this would take a long time.
Is your organisation taking steps to future-proof itself, and if so, what does this approach look like?
Of course. We always try to make the firm more innovative in multiple parts of the organisation – skill sets, value, market position and utilising new technology, such as AI.