Katsumori ISEKI

Katsumori Iseki is president of CP JAPAN IP Attorneys, a specialist intellectual property firm based in Osaka, which was named Boutique IP Law Firm of the Year in Japan at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2024. A registered patent attorney, or benrishi, Iseki leads a practice built around comprehensive protection of clients' intellectual property assets.

CP JAPAN IP Attorneys offers a full range of intellectual property services covering patents, trademarks, designs and intellectual property litigation. The firm emphasises experience and trust combined with strong teamwork, and articulates a philosophy of protecting intellectual property from a wide variety of risks with a borderless perspective. That outlook reflects the reality of modern IP work, in which Japanese innovators frequently need to secure and defend rights across multiple jurisdictions, and in which foreign rights holders look to experienced local counsel to protect their interests in Japan.

Japan is one of the world's leading sources of patented invention, and its intellectual property system is correspondingly sophisticated and demanding. Prosecuting patents, trademarks and designs before the Japan Patent Office requires technical precision and procedural expertise, while enforcement and litigation call for the strategic handling of disputes in which significant commercial value is often at stake. A boutique firm competes in this environment by offering specialist depth and senior attention across the full span of these disciplines, from securing rights through to defending or challenging them, and by coordinating with counsel abroad when a client's interests cross borders. The breadth of the firm's coverage, spanning patents, trademarks, designs and IP litigation, means a client can look to a single team both to build a portfolio of protected rights and to act when those rights are threatened, rather than dividing the work between separate advisers.

The firm is headquartered in Osaka, with additional offices in Hiroshima and in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, giving it a presence across several of Japan's important commercial and industrial regions. It places particular value on face-to-face engagement with clients, an approach consistent with its boutique positioning, where senior specialists work closely with the businesses and inventors they represent rather than distributing matters across a large impersonal organisation. This model allows the firm to combine technical depth with responsive, relationship-driven service to manufacturers, technology companies and other innovators for whom intellectual property is a central business asset.

Under Iseki's leadership as president, CP JAPAN has earned recognition in the Corporate INTL Global Awards consistently over recent years, from 2017 through to 2024, an unusually sustained record that speaks to the firm's reliability and reputation. The 2024 award as Boutique IP Law Firm of the Year in Japan affirms the firm's standing within a competitive national market for intellectual property services. As president and lead patent attorney, Iseki guides a practice whose identity rests on specialist expertise, teamwork and close client relationships, offering Japanese and international clients a focused alternative to the largest full-service firms while maintaining the technical rigour that intellectual property protection demands.