Announcement of Merger of K.ITO & ASSOCIATES, Patents, Trademarks & Designs
with Prezio IP Firm

We are pleased to announce that K.ITO & ASSOCIATES, Patents, Trademarks & Designs (https://kitopat.jp/en/) and Prezio IP Firm (https://www.snowdrops.gr.jp/?lang=en) have agreed to merge, effective August 1, 2024. The owners of the two firms, Katsuhiro Ito and Shinji Hayami, have been close friends for over 25 years. The merger is aimed at complementing our firms' respective strengths and maximizing synergies to provide the best possible service to all of our clients.

For the past 20 years, K.ITO & ASSOCIATES has garnered an outstanding reputation representing many prestigious foreign clients and obtaining Japanese patents for them by persuasive response to the Japanese Patent Office.

Prezio IP Firm was established in 2004 and has a strong network of more than 150 law firms in 25 countries. The firm covers all technical fields including Chemistry, Electronics, Information Technology, Communication Systems, Mechanics, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotechnology. The firm's ability to deeply understand a wide variety of technology inventions and to guide difficult-to-register cases to patents by suggesting different approaches and claim scopes so that clients can determine the most effective strategy has gained Prezio their deep trust.

As a result of the merger, the combined firm can share its wealth of experience and know-how that both have built up over many years. By making the most of this, we are now able to provide our clients with an even wider range of advisory services on all Japanese intellectual property matters, including obtaining Japanese patents as well as negotiations and litigation regarding patent disputes.

Through this merger, the total number of staff has increased to over 60, including 23 patent attorneys. This will enable us to handle inventions in a wider range of technical fields, and to be extremely responsive to many kinds of requests. In addition, we will be able to increase our investment in our operations and HR management infrastructure, responding to new trends such as AI on a larger and more efficient scale, leading to improved operational efficiency.

We would like to thank all of our esteemed international clients for your support. We look forward to continuing our close relationships, and providing you with the best legal advice and services from our newly merged firm.