Mr. Shigetoshi Hirano has been practicing law in a variety of fields since 1989. After he was dispatched by the firm to study in the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, he has specialized in intellectual property (IP) disputes representing Japanese and other foreign clients in Japanese courts and arbitration, as well as drafting licensing and franchising agreements. Mr. Hirano also has extensive experience in entertainment law, which is a combined field of copyright, trademark and intellectual property creation, and is derived from IP. In addition to his IP practice, Mr. Hirano has been involved in business transactions and international disputes between Japanese parties and foreign parties in the U.S., E.U, China, Korea, Middle East and many other countries. Mr. Hirano has also worked on many joint venture projects, which has helped clients expand their businesses into new territories. On several occasions, Mr. Hirano has assisted Japanese clients in the closure of their subsidiaries to restructure their chain of supply. Mr. Hirano believes lawyers should have broad experience and knowledge in order to lead their clients to fair and reasonable results, which is why he has tried to obtain a variety of experience, including learning about different cultures. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Hirano has been teaching Intellectual Property Law at Kyoto University Law School for the past 10 years and has been elected to important bar association positions, including as Vice President of the Osaka Bar Association.
