Patent Attorney Tohru Hongo

Mr. Hongo has graduated from the school of Engineering at Kyoto University, before he pursued a career as a patent examiner at the Japanese Patent Office. During his 33 years at the Japanese Patent Office, he became head of departments in various technical fields and was eventually promoted to the position of chief appeal examiner in the field of applied optics. He joined our firm after he retired from the Japanese Patent Office in 2017. Due to his rich experience at the JPO, Mr. Hongo is able to anticipate the outcome of proceedings at the Japanese Patent Office from the perspective of an examiner. His experience in the analysis of IP rights provides an optimum of legal certainty so that our clients can make informed decisions in proceedings before the JPO.

Expert opinions for the evaluation of patent rights in invalidations trails, post grant oppositions proceedings and the enforcement of patents against potential infringers; litigation in appeal proceedings before the JPO and the Intellectual Property High Court.