Japan

Foley recognizes that conducting business in the global marketplace requires seasoned skills and hands-on experience, as well as an understanding of cultural and political issues that are unique to our clients. We have assembled a team of professionals — including Japan-licensed attorneys who also are licensed in the United States, and U.S. attorneys with significant experience working and living in Japan and proficiency with the Japanese language — who are thoroughly familiar with Japan’s cultural values, history, traditions, etiquette, and business protocols.

Attorneys in our Japan Practice assist global clients in conducting sophisticated business transactions across a wide range of industries and legal matters, including intellectual property (IP), technology, and energy. We also handle matters such as cross-border acquisition and insolvency work for both U.S. and Japanese clients.

Intellectual Property Counsel for Japanese Companies

As product and service portfolios grow and technologies become increasingly complex and convergent, Japanese companies need to form collaborative relationships with IP counsel who understand and carry out their clients’ business objectives throughout the IP life cycle while working within a broader business and regulatory framework.

Ranked number two among the “Kings of IP” in the Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies survey by Corporate Counsel magazine (2012), our Intellectual Property Department has the experience to deliver a full life cycle of IP services for technology-driven companies, from counseling and licensing to due diligence and litigation. The cornerstone of our success has been our ability to blend technical and legal insight with an understanding of our clients’ real-world business needs.

We stay ahead of the curve of the latest technologies and have built respected practices in a number of industries, including biotechnology, pharmaceutical, specialty chemical, nanotechnology, business method and software patents, electronics and high-technology, wireless, and new media.

Transactional and Securities for Japanese Companies

As the world has become increasingly global, Japanese companies have sought advice from our sophisticated corporate and regulatory attorneys who are accomplished in all manner of cross-border transactions. Foley’s presence in Japan also is complemented by the strength of our offices in the United States and Brussels, where many members of our Japan Practice are located.

Our team of corporate and regulatory attorneys is structured to help clients enhance enterprise value when dealing with the most challenging issues and to provide cost-effective and uniformly high-quality services, all backed by competence, creativity, and award-winning client service. These attorneys have provided Japanese clients with advice on M&A, financing, franchise and distribution, labor and employment, securities, international trade, environmental issues, and competition and food, beverage, and drug laws, among others. Foley’s Japanese clients have included companies in such diverse industries as automobile and automobile parts, banking and financing, chemical, pharmaceutical, electronics, general trading business (sogo-shosha), information technology, software, and steel.

Our Tokyo Office

Leveraging more than 25 years of experience in handling U.S. legal matters for major Japanese corporations, we established our Tokyo office in 2003 to further expand our ability to represent clients in complex matters — including IP counseling, litigation, corporate matters such as bankruptcy and M&A, and regulatory work — as clients expand their business internationally, particularly in the United States.

Our Tokyo office serves a dual purpose: It is a liaison for our growing list of Japanese clients and also allows the firm’s U.S. clients to more closely monitor legal and business developments and trends in Japan.

Foley’s Tokyo office personnel includes Japanese attorneys also licensed in the United States who are accomplished in handling and facilitating complex legal matters for Japanese corporations. The multi-lingual Japanese attorneys in our Tokyo office are fluent in Japanese, as well as Mandarin and English, enabling them to closely coordinate with our U.S. offices.