Shogo Asaji has over 25 years of experience in intellectual property law and litigation and is one of a small number of U.S. licensed lawyers in Japan who has an engineering background, Japanese-English bilingual capability, and experience handling multibillion dollar, global patent disputes spanning the United States and Japan.
Shogo's practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, IP counseling, legal opinions, licensing advice, and international business and contract disputes. He represents clients in litigation, including in Hatch-Waxman/ANDA cases, before U.S. courts and the International Trade Commission (ITC), and in administrative proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Shogo has worked effectively with many types of technologies, including wireless communications, software, user interface technology, light emitting diodes, liquid-crystal displays, transistors, semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing, data storage, databases, networks, business methods, DVDs, digital projectors, polymers, small molecules, growth hormones, antibodies, antibody formulations, antiviral drugs, vaccines, fire retardant chemicals, organic solvents, insulin injection devices, and e-cigarettes and smoking devices.
In addition, Shogo counsels non-Japanese companies on patent matters in Japan, including litigation, invalidation proceedings at the Japan Patent Office, customs proceedings, IP licensing and purchase negotiations, and responding to warning letters.
Shogo practiced in New York City before moving to Tokyo. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he worked as an executive for a mid-sized Japanese company. He grew up in Switzerland and France and has working knowledge of French.
Shogo is the pro bono coordinator of the Tokyo Office and served as president of the Tokyo IP American Inn of Court from 2018 to 2019.
Experience
The following represents experience prior to joining Jones Day.
Smartphone Litigation (Tokyo District Court, Japan IP High Court, and Japan Patent Office). Member of team that successfully asserted an user-interface patent and defended against assertions of declared standards-essential patents in Japan as part of a high profile global dispute.
Toshiba Corp. v. Imation Corp., et al. (Western District of Wisconsin). Represented Toshiba Corp. in enforcing patents covering DVD technology against disc manufacturers and sellers. The jury found infringement.
AAA/ICDR Arbitration(New York). Represented a Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer in an ICDR arbitration against a U.S. aircraft leasing company.
Albemarle Corp. v. Kaneko Chemical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo District Court, Japan IP High Court, and Japan Patent Office). Represented Albemarle Corp. for a patent infringement case against a Japanese chemical company.
Seoul Semiconductor Co. v. Nichia Corporation et al. (Eastern District of Texas). Represented Nichia Corp. against assertions of infringement of short-wavelength laser diode and LED patent. The case settled shortly after the Markman hearing.
Nishiyama v. Oracle Corp. (Japan Patent Office). Obtained an opinion of noninfringement for Oracle Corp. at the JPO after patentee sought an advisory opinion of infringement by the client's in-memory data grid product.
Portable Music Player Litigation (Tokyo Customs Office, Japan). Defeated petition for import ban of U.S. client's portable music players based on allegations of patent infringement.
Lund LLC v. Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp. et al. (Eastern District of Texas). Represented Fujitsu is a patent infringement lawsuit brought by an individual inventor against Fujitsu’s laptop computers. The case settled.
Compression Labs Incorporated v. Fujitsu Computer Products of America et. al. (Eastern District of Texas). Represented Fujitsu in a patent infringement lawsuit concerning JPEG/MPEG compression technologies.
Seiko Epson Corp. v. Plus Vision Corp. (District of Oregon). Represented Plus Vision in a patent infringement lawsuit related to projection displays using DLP technology.
TAP Pharmaceutical Products, Inc., et al. v. Owl Pharmaceuticals, L.L.C., et al. (Northern District of Ohio). Represented co-plaintiff Takeda Chemical Industries in ANDA litigation relating to sustained-release formulations for treating prostate cancer. The district court found infringement and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment.
In re '639 Patent Litigation (District of Massachusetts). Represented plaintiff GlaxoSmithKline in ANDA litigation against generic manufacturers of a NSAID in trial and on appeal.
University of Rochester v. G.D. Searle Co., Inc. et al. (Western District of New York). Represented G.D. Searle and Pharmacia in a billion dollar patent infringement suit relating to G.D. Searle and Pharmacia’s Celebrex®. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the clients and the Federal Circuit affirmed.
DepoMed, Inc. v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (Northern District of California). Represented Bristol-Myers Squibb in a patent and trade secret case involving extended release formulation for diabetes drug Glucophage®. The case settled.
Novo Nordisk A/S et al. v. Becton Dickinson & Co. (Southern District of New York). Represented Becton Dickinson in a patent infringement lawsuit alleging infringement of several patents relating to insulin injection systems. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the client.
Additional Speaking Engagements
- September 7, 2023
FRONTEO Webinar: Document Preservation Obligations for US Litigations (米国訴訟における文書保存義務) - March 2018
Legal Enhancement Expert Program Academy:米国特許訴訟における最新事情 - September 27, 2017
AIPPI Seminar 2017 - September 2017
AIPPI JAPANセミナー:米国特許訴訟の最新情報 - June 2017
ジョーンズ・デイ ライフサイエンスセミナー:ライフサイエンス企業の米国における事業活動に関連する判例法の展開 - May2017
ジョーンズ・デイEUセミナー: 欧州における各法分野の最新動向と留意点 - October 2016
米国特許侵害訴訟セミナー - April 2016
AIPPI JAPANセミナー:米国特許訴訟の最新情報 - April 8, 2016
Recent Case Law Concerning FRAND Licensing & Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) - April 7, 2016
Recent Case Law Concerning FRAND Licensing & Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) - September 2015
ジョーンズ・デイ米国訴訟セミナー:米国訴訟において日本の企業が留意すべき事項 - May 2015
ジョーンズ・デイ米国訴訟セミナー:米国訴訟において日本の企業が留意すべき事項 - December 2014
AIPPI JAPANセミナー:米国特許訴訟の最新情報 - December 12, 2014
AIPPI Seminar 2014
- Georgetown University (LL.M. in International and Comparative Law with distinction 1998); American University (J.D. 1996); The Johns Hopkins University (M.A. 1990); Tufts University (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering cum laude 1988; B.A. in Economics cum laude 1988)
- Registered Foreign Lawyer in Japan (Daini Tokyo Bar Association), New York, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and various U.S. District Courts
Best Lawyers in Japan: intellectual property (2010-2025); life sciences practice (2023-2025); litigation (2024-2025)
Chambers Asia-Pacific: intellectual property (2020 and 2024)
Chambers Global: intellectual property (2020 and 2024)
IAM Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Practitioners (2020-2024)
President, Tokyo IP American Inn of Court (2018-2019)
- Intern to Judge Robert H. Hodges Jr., U.S. Court of Federal Claims (Summer 1994)
- English, Japanese, French