IdeaDefence IP Attorneys was established in 2024 and is based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan (close to Osaka and Kobe-cities).
Mr. Masa Watanabe
Partner, Patent Attorney (Japan)
He received a Bachelor of Science degree (Physics) from Kyoto University. He also holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Chuo University as a working student.
He is EIKEN (English-proficiency test) Grade 1 qualified.
He has been a Japanese Patent Attorney since 2007 (Litigation Attorney since 2009) while working for Sharp Corporation. After that, he gained experience in licensing negotiations and patent enforcement activities required for negotiations.
In 2015, he joined Endo-lighting Corporation and established a new IP department. He was involved in the patent litigation of 7 patents from Panasonic while working at Endo-Lighting. The lawsuit of Panasonic was dismissed by Osaka District Court in 2021 and IP High Court in 2024, because of his effort to find various prior “products”,
He resolved a licensing negotiation between Philips Lighting (current Signify) and Ansell Lighting, the UK subsidiary of Endo-Lighting.
While working in Endo-lighting, he filed patents as an in-house patent attorney. His patenting experience includes LED, laser, semiconductor, optics, electronics (IoT, circuits), inorganic chemistry, lighting, construction machinery, etc.
In 2024, he founded a new IP firm, wishing that the proper protection of ideas beyond the public domain rewards inventors, creators, investors, and people who benefit from ideas.
