Dr. David Baker, University of Washington biochemist and professor, was awarded half of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work "for computational protein design." According to the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Dr. Baker's "research group has produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors."

The Firm is delighted that it represented Dr. Baker, as an inventor, and the University of Washington in Japanese patent matters at the Japan Patent Office over the years. Team SY is glad to play its small part in protecting and serving Nobel Prize winning computational protein design innovations in medicine, biotechnology, chemistry and materials science.

Prof. Drew Weissman was the co-winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Professor Katalin Karikó for their groundbreaking research concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. The pioneering mRNA discovery contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times. The research that laid the foundation for mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 and is now being researched for other diseases, including HIV, cancer and HSV.

The Firm is honored and humbled that it was able to represent Professor Weissman, as an inventor, and the University of Pennsylvania in Japanese patent matters directed to this Nobel Prize winning mRNA discovery.

We offer our heartiest congratulations to Professor Weissman and to his co-winner Professor Karikó who shared the Nobel Prize and join the international research community in celebrating their revolutionary scientific achievements and this well-deserved recognition.

We are delighted to announce that SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO was named the Japan Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year at the 2023 ALB Japan Law Awards held at Ritz-Carlton Tokyo on June 8, 2023. This award recognizes our exceptional performance in providing top notch intellectual property legal counsel to our domestic and international clients and associates.

Mr. Kensaku Yamamoto, Managing Partner, attributed the Firm's award winning practice to "A special combination of factors: quality work, forward thinking, talented people, our willingness to be trusted partners with our clients and associates together with the strong support of everyone at the Firm. This is an amazing victory as SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO triumphed over some of the biggest law firms and IP firms in Japan that were also shortlisted in this category. This award endorses our position as top tier legal experts in the Japanese intellectual property field. We would like to thank our loyal clients and associates for their rock solid support."

Congratulations to everyone at our award winning firm, featuring stalwart personnel from multiple disciplines and all our offices in Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Fukushima and Nanjing. We are looking forward to continually surpass expectations and achieve outstanding outcomes together.

Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi received the 2022 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her ground-breaking development of bioorthogonal reactions, which allow scientists to explore cells and track biological processes without disrupting the normal chemistry of the cell. The Nobel Prize award committee lauded her invaluable contributions as taking "click chemistry to a new level" where she "developed click reactions that work inside living organisms." The discovery of bioorthogonal reactions and derivatives thereof have been used to study how cells build proteins and other molecules, to develop new cancer medicines, and to produce new materials for energy storage, among many other applications.

The Firm extends their best wishes and heartiest congratulations on her Nobel Prize winning achievement and is pleased to have represented Dr. Bertozzi in Japanese patent matters.

Dr. David MacMillan received the 2021 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on asymmetric organocatalysis that is used for building molecules that have helped make new drugs and are more environmentally friendly. The Nobel Prize award committee lauded the discovery as "a new and ingenious tool for molecule building" which has spurred the development of plastics, perfumes and flavors.

The Firm is glad to have represented Dr. MacMillan in preparing and filing the Japanese patent application directed to this Nobel Prize winning discovery.

Dr. Michael Houghton was one of three winners of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

His discovery with Chiron Corporation colleagues Qui-Lim Choo and George Kuo in 1989 helped in the pioneering development of highly sensitive blood tests for HCV which have essentially eliminated post-transfusion hepatitis in many parts of the world, greatly improving global health. The discovery also allowed the rapid development of antiviral drugs directed at hepatitis C.

The Firm is honored and humbled that it was able to play a small part in helping Dr. Houghton, as an inventor, obtain, enforce and defend Japanese patents directed to this Nobel Prize winning discovery.

In 2020, the Firm is pleased to continue its exceptional record in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 ranking for Intellectual Property-Independent local firms. The guide highly ranked the Firm's practice in the "worldwide procurement, defence, and enforcement of patents" and its "expertise in complex contract and commercial matters, as well as representing infringement cases before the Tokyo District Court and the Intellectual Property High Court."

The Firm is ever grateful for the continued support and consideration of clients and associates over the years. We look forward to continue working closely together.

Updated annually, the Asia Pacific Legal 500 analyses and ranks law firms based on submissions from law firms and interviews with clients and other legal professionals.

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Prof. John B. Goodenough of the University of Texas at Austin“for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”

The Firm is grateful to have assisted Prof. Goodenough and the University of Texas in the successful prosecution of several pioneering Japanese patents directed to this Nobel Prize winning discovery. This lightweight, rechargeable and powerful lithium-ion battery technology is now ubiquitously used in smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles and airplanes.

We offer our deepest congratulations to Professor Goodenough and to Professors Whittingham and Yoshino, who are co-winners of the prize.

Prof. William G. Kaelin Jr. was one of three winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for research on how cells sense & adapt to oxygen availability.

The Firm is honored and humbled that it was able to play a small part in helping Professor Kaelin, as an inventor, and the Dana Farber Institute obtain Japanese patents directed to this Nobel Prize winning discovery.

We offer our congratulations to Professor Kaelin and to Professors Ratcliffe and Semenza, who share the prize.

The Firm is proud to be recognized in Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine's “IAM Patent 1000 – 2019 – the World's Leading Patent Professionals,”a publication dedicated to recognizing leaders in the area of private patent practice around the world. For the eighth consecutive year, the Firm's IP practitioners was hailed as being "adept at filing silky, technically astute patent applications that never fail to make the grade" and the Firm takes after its Founder as a "guarantee of quality recognised throughout the Japanese IP scene."

The Firm is grateful for the continued support and consideration of clients and associates and look forward to working closely together.

IAM Patent 1000 is an authoritative guide that is based on extensive research involving more than 1,700 interviews and feedback from market sources.

Osaka, Japan, April 26, 2019 — SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO (SY), one of Japan’s leading intellectual property, regulatory, commercial law and dispute resolution firms, announced today the opening of its first ever overseas branch office in Nanjing, China. The SY branch is situated in the vibrant Nanjing Jiangbei New Area.
日本大阪， 2019年4月26日 — 山本特许法律事务所，作为提供知识产权、监管、商业法律和争议解决服务的最顶尖的日本律师事务所之一 ，宣布今天在中国南京开设迄今为止首家海外分公司。我们的首家海外分公司设立在蓬勃发展的南京江北新区。

"We are very excited and blessed to be opening our first overseas branch office in Nanjing in the same year our Firm is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding. Innovation is borderless and we are looking forward to serve Nanjing’s and China's high tech innovators. Our new SY Nanjing Jiangbei presence will give us the perfect on-site base of operations to meet their Japanese legal needs in real time, whenever they need us," said Kensaku Yamamoto, President of SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO.
"我们感到非常兴奋与幸运能够在今年，暨我们律所成立40周年之际，在南京开设我们第一个海外分公司。创新无国界，我们期待能够服务南京以及全中国的高新技术创新者。中国的客户无论何时需要我们，我们在南京江北新区的分所将使我们的运营操作更完善地提供当地化服务，实时满足客户对日本法律服务的需求。" 山本特许法律事务所会长山本健策说道。



Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, officially approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China in 2015, is currently home to some 200 IC companies, including sector-leading Chinese and multinational firms such as TSMC, Tsinghua Unigroup and Synopsys. There are also over 700 Chinese healthcare companies located in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area.
南京江北新区是由中华人民共和国国务院于2015年正式批复同意成立。 现在已有大约200家独立半导体公司入驻新区， 其中包括行业领先的海内外公司， 例如台积电、清华紫光集团和新思科技公司。与此同时，超过700家的中国医疗保健公司也已入驻南京江北新区。



Stephen Huang, Ph.D., Chief Biotech Specialist, will serve as the SY Nanjing Jiangbei branch's General Manager, assisted by Iris Zheng, MSc., Senior Biotech Specialist. Kensaku Yamamoto commented that “We expect that Stephen and Iris will be the nucleus of our future growth in Nanjing Jiangbei, and together, we aim to assist local PRC and Japanese international clients with business and investment interests in Greater China and Japan, focusing on IP, life sciences, regulatory, IP-commercial and dispute resolution matters. Drawing on our extensive experience representing foreign and Japanese clients in Japan and overseas, SY’s highly ranked IP & legal team will seamlessly offer Nanjing and PRC clients a powerful combination of in-depth local Japanese legal knowledge and global perspective.”
黄时显 (Stephen Huaug) 博士，山本特许法律事务所的首席生物技术官，将出任我们南京江北新区分公司的总经理。郑晨昱 (Iris Zheng) , 山本特许法律事务所的高级生物技术专家，将协助黄博士在南京的工作。 山本健策先生说: "我们预期Stephen和Iris能够成为我们未来在南京江北发展的核心力量。同时，我们致力于对大中华地区和日本商业及投资有兴趣的中国本地和拥有国际规模的日本客户提供服务，协助其在知识产权、生命科学、监管、知识产权商业化和争议解决等领域事务。凭借我们在海内外代表日本和海外客户所积累的广泛丰富经验，山本特许法律事务所的顶级知识产权和法律服务团队，将无缝为南京乃至中国各地的客户提供全面深入的日本当地法律服务并兼顾其相关产业国际化发展的长远战略。"

SY has assisted many of the world’s leading universities, research institutes, companies and innovators in obtaining, enforcing and defending their valuable intellectual property and legal rights in Japan, United States, Europe, PRC and numerous other jurisdictions for many years. Through its Nanjing Jiangbei branch office, SY aims to service local and international clients with business and investment interests in Japan, Greater China and the world by focusing on its core practice areas of intellectual property, life sciences, corporate transactional, regulatory and dispute resolution matters, and assist Chinese clients in legal matters at the Japanese courts and administrative agencies.
多年来山本特许法律事务所协助过许多国际顶尖大学、研究机构、公司和发明家取得执行并保护其在日本、美国、欧洲、中国等法域重要的知识产权和法律权利。通过我们在南京江北的分公司，山本特许法律事务所致力于对日本、大中华地区甚至全世界商业和投资有兴趣的本地或是已拥有国际规模的客户提供服务，协助其在日本法院和行政机关处理知识产权、生命科学、公司事务、监督和争议解决等领域核心法律事务。

SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO, a leading Japanese intellectual property and commercial law firm, offers Japanese patent prosecution, counseling and litigation, trademark and design prosecution, anti-counterfeiting, health and consumer regulatory, commercial counseling and litigation services. Our deep bench of lawyers and legal professionals with extensive prosecution, litigation and transaction experience in every technology field makes us the go-to firm, especially for the most technically complex cases. The SY firm, founded in 1979 by Mr. Shusaku Yamamoto, now has 5 offices and more than 130 staff, including attorneys, patent attorneys, technology specialists and fee-earners in Japan and China. Our success is rooted in our dedication to excellence, where our team always seeks to provide legal services with speed, quality and passion.
山本特许法律事务所，一个日本顶尖的知识产权和商业法律事务所， 提供日本专利申请及后续案件管理、咨询诉讼、 商标和外观设计申请暨后续案件管理、防伪、健康和消费监督、商业咨询和诉讼服务。我们的资深律师和法律专家在各个技术领域都有着广泛丰富的申请、诉讼和交易经验，使我們成為客户的不二选择，尤其对于技术层面复杂的难案。 山本特许法律事务所为山本秀策先生于1979年创立。发展至今已有五个办事处和超过130名员工， 其中包括在日本和中国的律师、专利律师和技术专家等。 我们的成功根基于我们专心致力于尽善尽美，为此我们的团队始终如一地带着热忱提供高效和高质量的法律服务。

The Firm has once again been commended for excellence in the latest edition of the Asia Pacific Legal 500 directory and it was singled out as "a key name for intellectual property, technology and related commercial law matters."

The Firm is delighted that it is able to strengthen its Legal 500 ranking and confirming its position among the best firms in Japan. The Firm is grateful for the continued support and consideration of clients and associates and look forward to working closely together.

The Legal 500 annual ranking is based on feedback from 250,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading practice lawyers, as well as a team of researchers with experience in the legal market.

The Firm is humbled to represent 2 of the 3 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 winners, Prof. Frances H. Arnold & Sir Gregory P. Winter, in Japanese patent matters.

These ground-breaking Nobel Prize winning scientists were recognized for their scientific discoveries that "harnessed the power of evolution” to produce enzymes and antibodies that have led to new drugs and biofuels.

The Firm has prosecuted subject matter related to their discoveries in patent matters on behalf of Prof. Arnold, California Institute of Technology, Sir Winter and the Medical Research Council (MRC) at the Japan Patent Office.

We are humbled that the 2018 edition of IAM Patent 1000 had recommended the firm for prosecution in Japan. According to IAM,“Close supervision and meticulous attention to detail”explains the loyalty of the Firm's broad ranging clientele.

The Firm is grateful for the continued support and consideration of clients and associates and look forward to working closely together.

IAM Patent 1000 is a guide that highlights the top patent firms in key jurisdictions around the world after an extensive research process involving over 1,800 interviews with patent stakeholders and practitioners.

The Firm's contentious and non-contentious IP and licensing practice teams was lauded by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2018 as one of the leading independent domestic law firms in Japan for Intellectual Property. Owner Kensaku Yamamoto and Founder Shusaku Yamamoto were highly ranked for their expertise.

The Firm has not only stood out for its focus on contentious and non-contentious IP and licensing work, but its regulatory and compliance practice has been busy assisting clients in Japan and overseas markets.

The Firm has consistently been highly recommended by Asia Pacific Legal 500 since the early 2000s and the Firm is delighted that our good work has been consistently recognized by our clients and peers over the years.

The Asia Pacific Legal 500 provides an impartial, third-party opinion on the leading law firms and lawyers in Japan and many other important jurisdictions all over the world. The rankings highlight the practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel. The annual research is based on feedback from thousands of in-house counsel worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading legal practitioners.

The Firm is grateful to clients and associates for its sixth consecutive Recommended Firm ranking in the leading international guide which honors only the world's best-in-class licensing, litigation, and patent prosecution professionals.

Based on an extensive five month research process by IAM Patent 1000, the Firm was recommended for its “penetrating advice is ably dispensed across the full spectrum of IP and technological matters, including all ancillary commercial concerns” and declared as a "trusted ally of major patent holders who has tackled numerous landmark prosecution and litigation issues."

The sixth edition of this market-leading guide identifies and profiles leading patent professionals and firms in Japan and 47 other important patent jurisdictions and 18 US states. The guide is the result of five months of detailed research involving interviews and surveys with thousands of private practice lawyers and attorneys. The rankings were based from recommendations from both peers and clients alike.

The firm assisted all-time football phenomenon Diego Maradona to successfully register the MARADONA® trademark at the JPO. Maradona was named the FIFA player of the 20th century jointly with Pele. FIFA commended that Maradona's "mastery of the ball was virtually unrivalled".

The Firm's patent and trade mark litigation group, anti-counterfeiting group, licensing and due diligence team led by Owner Kensaku Yamamoto and its patent prosecution group with its sector-specific electronics, computing and mechanics, and biotech, chemicals and life sciences practices led by Founder Shusaku Yamamoto were recommended by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017 as one of the leading independent domestic law firms in Japan for Intellectual Property.

The Firm has consistently been recommended by Asia Pacific Legal 500 since the early 2000s and the Firm is delighted that our good work has been recognized by our clients and peers, whose feedback has ensured that the Firm has features strongly in the rankings over the years.

The Asia Pacific Legal 500 provides an impartial, third-party opinion on the leading law firms and lawyers in Japan and many other important jurisdictions all over the world. The rankings highlight the practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel. The annual research is based on feedback from thousands of in-house counsel worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading legal practitioners.

In support of the research and clinical efforts to combat the Zika virus and save patients from the possible side effects of nerve-based disorders resulting from Zika infections, the Firm has successfully prosecuted a patent directed to the treatment of zika that was granted by the Japan Patent Office on July 13, 2016.

On July 29, 2016, the Florida Department of Health confirmed the first local Zika transmission in the continental United States at a one-square mile area in Wynwood, a trendy neighborhood just north of downtown Miami.

Earlier, on January 22, 2016, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activated its Level 1 response to monitor and coordinate the emergency response to Zika in the US including the Caribbean, Brazil, Venezuela and other countries and territories.

Subsequently on Feb. 1, 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Sporadic zika cases were also detected in Asia, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore and Thailand.

For the fifth consecutive year in a row, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine has honored the Firm in their annual IAM Patent 1000 – The World's Leading Patent Practitioners Guide.

The Guide recognized the Firm for its "expertise in the full range of patent and commercial counsel" and it was especially recognized for prosecuting "cutting-edge applications for former Nobel Prize winners."

The Firm is humbled by its fifth successive induction into the leading international guide which honors only the world's best-in-class licensing, litigation, and patent prosecution professionals.

IAM Patent 1000 – The World's Leading Patent Professionals 2016 identifies the top patent practitioners in key jurisdictions around the world. The guide is compiled through extensive market research by a team of full-time analysts who conduct approximately 1,500 interviews with patent specialists across the globe.

The Firm's patent prosecution, contentious and anti-counterfeiting practices and attorneys have been recommended by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2016 as one of the leading domestic law firms in Japan for Intellectual Property.

Owner Kensaku Yamamoto was recommended for the Firm's contentious and anti-counterfeiting matters and Founder Shusaku Yamamoto was recommended for leading the firm's "biotech, chemical, life sciences, electronics, computing and mechanics patent prosecution practices".

The Firm has been recommended by the Asia Pacific Legal 500 since the early 2000s and we are honored to continue to receive support and recognition from our clients and associates.

The Asia Pacific Legal 500 is an independent guide and research is based on extensive surveys and interviews conducted with lawyers and clients each year.

Dr. Aziz Sancar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was one of the three recipients of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his ground-breaking research in mapping the cellular mechanisms "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair".

The Firm is honored to have assisted Dr. Aziz, as an inventor, and the University of North Carolina before the Japan Patent Office in Japanese patent prosecution.

In a pioneering and groundbreaking development that was reported in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei Newspaper) and other Japanese business media, Japan's largest bank and one of the world's largest, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, entered into a business alliance with SHUSAKU∙YAMAMOTO on intellectual property rights.

This business alliance will support the growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), venture companies and the like aiming for the next generation of industrialization growth and prosperity through the protection and commercialization of innovative technology.

A press release of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ noted that "through the introduction of SHUSAKU∙YAMAMOTO, the bank will provide services such as proposal of intellectual property strategy and patent filing to help businesses maximize the commercial benefits of their intellectual property, and build a thriving, innovative business and setting a new challenge in industry and actively enhance the growth of the Japanese economy."

The Firm is honored and excited to ally with one of the titan institutions of Japan's economy to help identify, encourage, protect and enforce the valuable intellectual property of Japanese SMEs and venture companies and help them prosper and flourish, creating a more dynamic economy and greater employment opportunities in Japan and the world.

The anti-counterfeiting enforcement team at SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO, led by Mr. Kensaku Yamamoto, successfully completed a criminal enforcement action on behalf of its client, Harley Davidson Inc., against 2 Japanese online counterfeiters found to be selling counterfeit Harley Davidson leather jackets sourced from the People's Republic of China.

Like elsewhere, the counterfeiting trade in Japan has moved online and the source countries of these online counterfeit goods come from China and Southeast Asia. These pirated goods are purchased online and shipped directly to innocent Japanese consumers and such online sale tactics have become popular with counterfeit vendors based overseas and in Japan.

Working together with the police and investigation officers of the Ogaki Station, Gifu Police, the Firm successfully initiated a criminal complaint and participated in the raid, investigation, arrest, prosecution and conviction of the 2 Japan-based online counterfeiters for selling and distributing fake Harley Davidson jackets.

In appreciation of the Gifu Police's successful criminal investigation and conviction of the online counterfeiters, Mr. Kensaku Yamamoto presented a Letter of Appreciation from Harley Davidson Inc., (USA) to Mr. Hideo Munemiya, Assistant Commissioner and Station Commander of Ogaki Station, Gifu Police on August 13, 2015. The Gifu Police was commended for "displaying the highest degree of professionalism, vigilance and diligence in line with the proud traditions of law enforcement."

The Firm is dedicated to assisting clients in tackling online piracy and other forms of intellectual property crime such as counterfeit goods. With this successful investigation, prosecution and conviction of the 2 Gifu-based online counterfeit vendors, the Firm is glad to ensure that its brandowner clients stay at the forefront of intellectual property enforcement.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the preliminary results of an "extremely promising" vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus that has led to 100% protection and this development could greatly help prevent Ebola's spread in current and future outbreaks.

The vaccine VSV-EBOV was developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada and it was licensed to NewLink Genetics Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company. The Firm is humbled to represent NewLink Genetics Corporation in Japanese patent matters."

The Firm continued its winning streak, fourth year running, as a top ranked leading Japanese domestic patent practice by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine's 2015 edition of the IAM Patent 1000 – The World's Leading Patent Practitioners.

IAM editors reported the firm "blends contentious and non-contentious expertise in a synergised offering that has attracted the attention of scores of marquee names."

The IAM Patent 1000 is a guide to the top patent professionals in key jurisdictions around the globe. Based on interviews with almost 1,500 attorneys at law firms, patent attorneys, and in-house counsel, individuals qualify for a listing when they receive sufficient positive feedback from peers and clients with knowledge of their practice and the market within which they operate.