We had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Chang-Oh Ryu from the Korean firm of Kim & Chang. Along with providing each other with updates on our mutual firms, Mr. Ryu was also kind enough to discuss with us some details and experiences concerning the recently adopted letter-of-consent system in Korea that was enacted from May of 2024, particularly in light of Japan’s recent implementation of a similar system.

We were happy to host Mr. Miku H. Mehta from the US-based law firm Procopio. We exchanged information about our prospective firms, and Mr. Mehta was kind enough to provide us with information on points to consider when filing declarations of use with respect to trademarks, as well as recent important trends and decisions affecting the filing of design patents. He also explained in detail the USPTO’s proposed increases in official fees, which are expected to take effect in 2025.

Mr. Mohammad Fazil Bharucha from the firm Bharucha & Co. was kind enough to visit our firm today. We discussed strategies for several ongoing Opposition cases in Pakistan, as well as how to best navigate issues of infringement, including utilizing copyright laws and civil lawsuit filings.

We were pleased to have Mr. Victor Basilio N. de Leon and Mr. Jose Eduardo T. Genilo from ACCRLAW (Philippines) visit our firm. We discussed the effects of the global pandemic on working environments both there an in Japan, as well as exchanging information and strategies on conducting Oppositions in the Philippines, which presents some unique challenges to Opposers.

Ms. Dan Chen, Mr. Ning Yue, Mr. Jialai Yuan were kind enough to visit our firm. They provided us with some of the finer points about the current practice in China concerning Cancellation Actions due to non-use. We discussed recent trends and what criteria decisions are based on as well as what kinds of evidence are most beneficial in defending against such Cancellation Actions.