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Attorneys
JPO - US Bar Liaison Council Meeting 2023
Daniel Lent and Ko Nakamura will attend the JPO - US Bar Liaison Council meeting on November 8, 2023 in Washington, D.C., and present to officials visiting from the Japan Patent Office.
Dan will present updates on new patent case law, including Elekta Ltd. v. Zap Surgical Systems, Inc., — F.4th — (Fed. Cir. Sept 21, 2023), regarding how prosecution history can be used to support a finding of a motivation to combine prior art references, even when those references come from different fields. Dan chairs the firm's Japanese Patent Practice Group, leading a team of attorneys and professional staff with specialized Asian experience and focusing on obtaining U.S. patents for clients from Japan, China, India, Singapore, and Taiwan. He has lived and worked as an intellectual property lawyer in Asia.
Ko will present updates on recent U.S. congressional updates to USPTO policies. Ko has 18 years of experience in intellectual property, including performing and managing patent prosecution, IP counseling, invalidity and non-infringement opinions, and clearances for both domestic and international clients in a broad range of industries. He is fluent in Japanese and has extensive experience handling Japan-origin patent applications, and has represented both Houston Intellectual Property Association and the Carolina Patent Trademark Copyright Law Association as delegate in annual meetings with the Japan Patent Office.
The JPO officials are:
・KATSURA Masanori (Mr.), Deputy Commissioner
・MATSUSHITA Koichi (Mr.), Director of the International Policy Division
・EMA Masaki (Mr.), Deputy Director of the International Policy Division
・MORIOKA Toshiyuki (Mr.), Assistant Director of the International Policy Division
・HIRUTA Atsushi (Mr.) Chief Director, JETRO New York
・FUKUOKA Kohei (Mr.) Director, JETRO New York
The JPO – US Bar Liaison Council is an organization consisting of a group of delegates representing different US IP organizations, including national, state, and city IP organizations, and meets with the leadership of the Japan Patent Office annually, alternating between Washington, D.C. and Tokyo. A feature of the meeting includes alternating presentations between the Japan Patent Office and US bar, with open discussions on JPO initiatives as well as inquiries that the delegates received from members of the IP organizations that they represent. One unique aspect of the council is that it includes representatives from state and city IP bars.
