Participation as a Booth Exhibitor at the 2025 AIPPI World Congress in Yokohama, Japan

Five members from our firm, Takanori TAMAI, Fumio AKIYAMA, Tatsuya SASAKI, Hiroko TAKIKAWA, and Asuka ASEGA, attended the AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property) World Congress held at PACIFICO Yokohama North from Saturday, September 13 to Tuesday, September 16, 2025.

The AIPPI World Congress is a vibrant annual event that brings together members from around the world. This year, the Congress welcomed over 2,800 participants.

As the Congress was held in Japan this year, our firm hosted an exhibition booth for the first time. Approximately 70 booths were set up at the venue, with nearly half hosted by research companies and Chinese firms. Japanese patent and law firms also showcased their distinctive styles, contributing greatly to the vibrant atmosphere of the AIPPI Yokohama venue. Although Japanese firms are usually in a competitive relationship, this year they actively visited each other's booths, exchanged information, and enjoyed friendly conversations about their booth presentations.

Naturally, since representatives from around the world gather at the AIPPI World Congress, conversations among Japanese attendees were limited. Most of our time was spent introducing our firm and exchanging information in English. One of our patent attorneys, who is fluent in Chinese, also engaged in discussions in Chinese, while other members occasionally used smartphone translation apps to introduce our firm in Chinese as well.

Thanks to our booth exhibition, we were able to have engaging conversations with attendees we had not scheduled meetings with. These interactions provided valuable insights into the priorities of clients in different countries, the key practice areas that local representatives are focusing on, and the regions where business or product distribution is heavily concentrated.  Much of this information could only be obtained through direct dialogue with representatives from various countries.

In previous years, it was often challenging to locate our meeting partners at the venue. However, this year, many of them visited our booth directly, which allowed both sides to engage in relaxed discussions and thoughtfully exchange updates on each other’s current situations.

Moving forward, we aim to actively create opportunities for information exchange with representatives from various countries, while continuing to stay informed about the situation in each country. Through these efforts, we hope to strengthen our global partnerships and pursue even higher-quality intellectual property activities.

Next year, the AIPPI World Congress is scheduled in Hamburg, Germany, in October 2026, and our firm’s members are expected to continue participating.