Abe, Ikubo & Katayama was founded by the representative partner, Shogo Abe, under the name of Ginza Law Office in 1959. Since then, we have represented numerous clients in litigations and negotiations, provided legal advices, and earned the full trust from those clients. The matters that we have dealt with are civil matters concerning general corporate advices, litigation and alternative dispute resolution, corporate turnaround and insolvency, intellectual property, life science, M&A, international practice, compliance & crisis management, finance, competition law, information law and labor law.
In 1991, the name of the firm was changed to Abe, Ikubo & Katayama. In 1997, the arrival of Emeritus Professor of Hitotsubashi University, Morio Takeshita as a specialcounsel added much more depth to our specialized areas of law. In 2000, we established Patent Prosecution Division (currently Intellectual Property Division) andenhanced our patent application and prosecution services.
We are now one of the leading law firms in Japan in intellectual property law and corporate related laws with more than 160 members consisting of attorneys at law patent attorneys and secretarial and managerial staff. Our clients include a diverse array of businesses such as manufacturers, financial institutions, distributors, construction companies and various enterprises in the service industry, both in Japan and overseas. We regularly provide legal services to about 400 Japanese companies as well as to overseas companies as the retained counsel.
Lawyer Shogo Abe passed away in February 2023, and Professor Emeritus Morio Takeshita passed away in October 2019.
7 Strengths
Of
Abe, Ikubo, Katayama
Of
Abe, Ikubo, Katayama
Strength 1
We make the utmost effort to assist our clients.
We believe it most important to have a good understanding of the character of the each corporate client and its business in order to provide the best suitable legal services to them.In that regard, we devote ourselves to "serving clients first and best".
Strength 2
We have a half of a century of history to have supported the development of good corporate businesses.
We have a half century of history to have supported the development of good corporate businesses.
Since the establishment of the Firm, we have been making enormous effort to work with our clients and share their pains and joys for almost a half century.
We believe that our "specialized areas of law" have not come to us on their own, but that they have been built up over years by our everyday efforts to bring the best results for the clients. We are fortunate for having met wonderful clients who have given us opportunities to accumulate our experiences and enhance our expertise in a wide range of areas of law. We also feel honored to receive respect from the clients for our works. (For details about the practice of the Firm, please see "Practice Areas".)
We feel humble ourselves and keep challenging ourselves to live up to the trust of our clients.
Since the establishment of the Firm, we have been making enormous effort to work with our clients and share their pains and joys for almost a half century.
We believe that our "specialized areas of law" have not come to us on their own, but that they have been built up over years by our everyday efforts to bring the best results for the clients. We are fortunate for having met wonderful clients who have given us opportunities to accumulate our experiences and enhance our expertise in a wide range of areas of law. We also feel honored to receive respect from the clients for our works. (For details about the practice of the Firm, please see "Practice Areas".)
We feel humble ourselves and keep challenging ourselves to live up to the trust of our clients.
Strength 3
We are accomplished litigators.
We are well experienced in handling complex and large scale of lawsuits. We approach cases with determination and passion to "win" for our clients. Practical and ample experience in litigation is a useful weapon as well as in alternative dispute resolution and all sorts of negotiations outside the courts. For example, in contract negotiations, we are very good at deciding which conditions can be or cannot be compromised, based on our experiences of litigation in which interpretation of contractual terms are the issues.
Strength 4
We have specialists in corporate business restructuring and rehabilitation.
We have attorneys at law who are specialized in handling corporate civil rehabilitation and corporate reorganization. Shogo Abe has an outstandingly successful work record in this area. He acted as the trustee of companies in the process of reorganization under corporate reorganization law or as the petitioner of companies for corporate rehabilitation under corporate civil rehabilitation law, and turned the companies' businesses around to be stable, solid and expanding. Mr. Abe not only tidied up the companies' administrative structure and financial position but also made new business strategies for the corporations, and put them successfully into practice either by himself or with other business executives.
Strength 5
We are a leading firm in the area of intellectual property.
The intellectual property law is one of the areas we have been focusing on. We opened the Intellectual Property Division in 2000, and expanded our practice to application services.
We provide all sorts of legal service relating to intellectual property i.e. dispute resolution (alternative dispute resolution, litigation), application and intermediate actions, drafting of intellectual property license agreements, and license negotiations. (For details, please see "Practice Areas".)
We are confident that we can, for our clients, establish intellectual property rights and defend such rights, by providing entire service from application to dispute resolution.
We provide all sorts of legal service relating to intellectual property i.e. dispute resolution (alternative dispute resolution, litigation), application and intermediate actions, drafting of intellectual property license agreements, and license negotiations. (For details, please see "Practice Areas".)
We are confident that we can, for our clients, establish intellectual property rights and defend such rights, by providing entire service from application to dispute resolution.
Strength 6
We have a world wide professional network.
We have good working relationships with specialists and professionals outside the Firm, such as audit firms who have expertise to investigate business data from the angle of practical business management, accounting firms who are well experienced in handling corporate insolvency matters, and law firms both in Japan and overseas, whom we have been liaising with for long years. Such liaisons with outside professionals are significant to work out the best solutions in corporate restructuring and business reorganizations under both domestic and cross border jurisdictions.
We also have attorneys at foreign laws and patent attorneys, who studied abroad and have good connection with overseas local professions.
We also have attorneys at foreign laws and patent attorneys, who studied abroad and have good connection with overseas local professions.
Strength 7
Members of Abe, Ikubo & Katayama are firmly united by the full trust upon each other.
We are proud to be the member of the Firm where each of us is responsible for enhancing of our own career while mutual trust and support to each other is highly valued.
We share skills and information, openly exchange legal opinions and study together at the regularly held internal research and study activities for improvement of our legal services. We believe that such a good team work bring the best result to our clients.
We share skills and information, openly exchange legal opinions and study together at the regularly held internal research and study activities for improvement of our legal services. We believe that such a good team work bring the best result to our clients.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy
We view ourselves as one “family” and recognize each member of our firm, including attorneys-at-law, patent attorneys and staffs, as a member of such family. We appreciate, respect, and help each other to achieve a sustainable development of our firm, as well as to support the growth of each member. While we each come from different backgrounds, we respect and accept each other's diverse ideas and values. We have strong relationships of trust between the members of our firm, and by providing the best legal services that will meet various needs of our clients and the society, our firm will also contribute to the sustainable development of the society.
■ As of 2024, approximately 30% of the firm's attorneys and over 30% of its patent attorneys are female, one of the highest percentages of female professionals in the industry. Furthermore, the same is true for the percentage of female among the partners. The firm is committed to maintaining and developing an environment in which all members of the firm, regardless of gender, can demonstrate their abilities and work with vigor and enthusiasm.
■ Our firm has expressed its endorsement of Business for Marriage Equality's advocacy of "marriage equality" (June 12, 2024). We are committed to contributing to a society in which every individual can live happily in his or her own way.