Anderson Mori & Tomotsune provides clients in the music, film and video game industries with comprehensive legal services in the copyright and entertainment areas, including legal advice regarding the use and development of contents, drafting and negotiations of standard and bespoke entertainment contracts, and representation of clients in dispute resolution.
INSIGHTS
PROFESSIONALS

Hitoshi Ishihara provides a variety of legal services to various international and foreign-affiliated clients establishing and doing business in Japan, with an exceptional focus on cross-border business negotiation, dispute resolution, M&A, international trade, and corporate/commercial matters (including advice concerning corporate governance, compliance, JV management, and internal investigations). His distinctive English skill, backed by over seven years experience in the United States, enables him to effectively bridge the linguistic and cultural gap faced by his clients.
Mr. Ishihara also provides pertinent and timely advice that matches the needs of clients expanding overseas, utilizing his rich experience in negotiating and coordinating with clients and counterparts not only from the United States and EU countries, but also in various other jurisdictions including those counties in Asia, Middle East, South America, and Eastern Europe.
In the intellectual property field, Mr. Ishihara has extensive experience in IP licensing and transactions and also provides advice on regulatory issues especially in the entertainment field, with an exceptional focus in the field of sports, being only one of the two recommended Japanese lawyers in the field of Sports & Gaming by Lexology, being quoted "Hitoshi Ishihara does not cease to impress market commentators in Japan and abroad with his sports and entertainment practice, with one praising him as "an amazing lawyer - a true number one in the country"."
Mr. Ishihara also has extensive focus and knowledge concerning the Japanese casino and gaming laws including the Japanese Integrated Resort (IR) Act, providing advice concerning the Japanese gaming regulations to various operators, suppliers, affiliate marketers, platformers, publishers, foreign law firms, state agencies, and various other stake holders. Mr. Ishihara is the only Japanese attorney-at-law who is admitted as a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL), which is a non-profit association of gaming attorneys, regulators, educators, executives and consultants from around the world who are dedicated to education and the exchange of professional information and advice.
Mr. Ishihara is quoted by Chambers as "Hitoshi Ishihara's extensive knowledge and experience, as well as his willingness to work closely with clients, make him a very trustworthy lawyer." and has been named "Gaming Lawyer of the Year in Japan" by various publications, such as Acquisition International Magazine, Corporate Intl Magazine, and Global Law Experts Magazine.

Leveraging his expertise in cutting-edge technologies such as AI and cybersecurity, Wataru Shimizu provides legal advice that is tailored to the practical needs of companies. He handles a wide range of issues from intellectual property (“IP”)-related agreements such as patent and know-how license agreements, software license agreements, and joint research and development agreements, to large-scale corporate alliances, as well as the development of business and IP strategies. In addition, he has handled a large number of legal and IP matters in Asia and emerging countries (in particular Mainland China and Southeast Asia). He also has extensive experience in general corporate law in areas such as corporate and labor law.

Masayuki holds a master's degree in science, and has been engaged in a number of patent infringement lawsuits and other IP related matters since he became a lawyer. His main focus is on the pharmaceutical industry, in patent infringement actions as well as licensing negotiations, joint development projects, and technology transfer projects. He also has expertise and experience in other forms of intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. In addition, with his experience in the U.S. (both in law school and at a law firm focusing on patent matters), he also provides advice to clients involved in patent lawsuits in the U.S.

Yuta Oishi has engaged in a wide range of IP related matters, including patent, copyright, and trademark infringement lawsuits, licensing negotiations, as well as technology related projects. Moreover, He specializes in data related business and has provided an extensive variety of advice regarding data protection, cyber security, and trade secrets. In addition, he possesses a vast array of experience in assisting with transactional, regulatory, and other legal matters in fields that pertain to and expand across the pharmaceutical, healthcare (including digital healthcare), IT, and entertainment industries.

My practice focuses on assisting domestic and international clients with personal data and privacy, AI, metaverse and other advanced areas, internet and IT-related matters, copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property rights, and cross-border transactions. For domestic clients, I have also assisted many clients with overseas compliance in the EU and elsewhere. I also deal with a number of more specialised areas, such as cyber security, where ransomware has recently become an issue, economic security, where security clearances are a hot topic, and technical areas such as Radio Act and satellite-related matters.
Outside of work, I was a member of a working group that drafted the recently published AI Guidelines for Business, and I serve on a number of expert committees for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Cabinet Office and other government departments. Also I have been commissioned to carry out various surveys for the Personal Information Protection Commission.
In Internet-related matters, I have been involved in various service launches and overseas expansion support for SNS, cloud, metaverse and online games, domain disputes and security, as well as compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act, the Funds Settlement Act, the Provider Liability Limitation Act, the Telecommunications Business Act and various other business laws and regulations, and in IT and systems, I have been involved in system development, security and open source software development. The firm assists clients in Japan and abroad with a focus on system development, security and software disputes, including open source.

Mr. Nakamachi is a fully bilingual and bicultural attorney and possesses over 30 years of solid experience as a practicing lawyer in the United States and Japan. He has the rare distinction among Japanese lawyers of having served as a partner at top-tier law firms in both of the two countries. He has special expertise in intellectual property/technology transactions for technology-driven clients, ranging from young start-ups to fully-matured global enterprises. Aki represents clients operating in a wide range of industries, including software, Internet, e-commerce, computer gaming, computer equipment, telecommunications, automobile, semiconductor, pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical devices. With over 10 years of work experience at first-tier national U.S. law firms across the United States, Aki has acquired exceptionally deep and practical knowledge of not only the laws but also the "business culture" of both the United States and Japan, and utilizes his expertise to assist clients in achieving successful outcomes in cross-border commercial transactions and dispute resolution matters.

Junichi Kondo is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and is engaged principally in the fields of general corporate matters with an emphasis on M&A, joint venture and other corporate transactions including M&A-related financing. His scope of experience also includes healthcare matters including pharmaceutical regulations and software licensing.

Yoshikazu Iwase joined Anderson Mori & Tomotsune after working with an intellectual property firm in Tokyo for three years. His litigation experience involves a number of patent infringement trials and revocation suits against the trial decisions of the Japanese Patent Office concerning patentability/validity of patents over various technologies. He has also been involved with a wide range of trademark/trade dress and copyright infringement suits, licensing and IP assets transfer transactions, and dispute resolution. Mr. Iwase has provided a wide range of advice regarding U.S. patent infringement issues in Japan. His experience also includes drafting and negotiating licensing, patent and various intellectual property transfer agreements, transactions and due diligence of intellectual property in the course of M&A deals.

Ko Wakabayashi is a partner of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune working primarily in the field of China related matters. His professional experience includes direct investment into China, licensing, M&A in China, general corporate advice in relation to Japanese enterprises' operation in China, and litigation and arbitration in China.
PUBLICATIONS
Click here to share this page

