►  January  

• A Landmark Case- The Tokyo High Court ordered Nichia Chemical to pay 20 billion yen to a key inventor of various blue LED patents. (January 30)
   
• Japanese Patent Application Spring Discount Campaign- Omori & Yaguchi offers 20 percent off of the Japanese translation fee, beginning Monday, February 2 and ending Friday, April 30, 2004. ►more (January 30)

►  March

• Our partner, Yasuaki Yamaguchi, will be speaking about fostering technology transfer between Japan and the US at the third annual "International Keitai Forum," Japan's largest forum mainly for the mobile communication. The forum will be held in Kyoto, Japan, on March 16 and 17. Top executives in the IT industry as well as regional investors and technology transfer practitioners from various Japanese universities will be attending. ►more  (March 12)

• Our affiliate company, Japan Technology Group, to become the fist Japanese company exhibiting a booth at the upcoming AUTM 2004 Annual Meeting- JTG is an international broker of technology-based intellectual property, matching emerging opportunities with those best positioned to capitalize on them. It serves as a link between North American companies and untapped promising Japanese innovations. The AUTM 2004 Annual Meeting will be held in San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel from March 4 to March 6. (March 1)
   

►  April  

• (Japanese National Holiday Announcement) Due to the "golden week" season, most businesses in Japan, including the Japan Patent Office (JPO), as well as most law firms including Omori & Yaguchi's Tokyo Office, are closed from Monday, May 3 to Wednesday, May 5. If the deadline for your case falls within those days, the due date will be automatically extended to Thursday, May 6 (Japan local time). For immediate assistance, please contact Omori & Yaguchi's Philadelphia Office at 1-215-701-6349 (telephone), 1-215-701-6351 (fax), or send an e-mail to usmail@omoriyaguchi.com. Our Philadelphia Office will be open normally from May 3 to May 5. (April 30)

• Omori & Yaguchi's Philadelphia office has relocated to new office space. (April 27)
   

►  May  

• Japan Patent Office's Small Entity Type Discount- Japan Patent Office (JPO) to provide non-Japanese universities with the small entity type discount on the Japanese patent examination fee and patent annuities. ►more (May 21)
   

►  June  

• Fujitsu, Samsung to settle their dispute over Fujitsu's patents on plasma display panels (PDP). ►more (June 8)
   

►  September  

• Holiday Observance- Omori & Yaguchi's Philadelphia Office will be closed for normal business on Monday, September 6, 2004, in observance of Labor Day.  For immediate assistance, please contact our Tokyo Office at +81-3-5412-0315 (phone) or +81-3-5412-0316 (fax), or send an e-mail to usmail@omoriyaguchi.com.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. (September 3, 2004)

 

►  December  

• Holiday Hours- Most businesses in Japan are closed for business from December 29 to January 3, 2005, including the Japan Patent Office (JPO), as well as most patent law firms including Omori & Yaguchi's Tokyo office.  However, Omori & Yaguchi's Philadelphia office is open normally except for January 1st and 2nd.  Please contact Omori & Yaguchi's Philadelphia office if you or your clients have cases and their deadlines fall between December 29th and January 3rd.  Please click here for our Philadelphia office's contact information. (December 30, 2004)