As the AIPPI World Congress in Yokohama approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to share a unique aspect of the Japanese IP landscape. Patent firms in Japan are structured in a way that is quite different from those in many other countries. In this article, we will briefly introduce how the Japanese patent attorney profession is organized and highlight what makes it distinctive.
Distribution of IP Firms by Number of Patent Attorneys
According to the “Distribution of Members of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association” (as of February 28, 2025), there are 5,209 registered entities (including IP firms and corporate departments) in Japan. The pie chart below shows the breakdown of these entities by the number of patent attorneys they employ.
As shown, firms with only 1 to 2 attorneys account for approximately 83.7% of all IP firms in Japan. In contrast, firms with 20 or more attorneys make up just 1.1% of the total, equivalent to about 55 firms nationwide. It should be noted that these numbers include corporate entities as well. For instance, a large corporation with only one registered in-house patent attorney may fall under the “1–2” category in this chart.
As a result, there are no IP firms in Japan with a workforce of 1,000 employees—such scale is virtually unheard of. Even firms with around 100 total employees, typically including 20 to 30 patent attorneys, are considered extremely large. There are only about 50 such firms across the country.
In Japan, intellectual property services are generally provided through strong teamwork rather than by individual attorneys working alone. For example, a firm with 20 to 30 patent attorneys typically also employs paralegals, technical specialists, translators, draftsmen, support staff, IT professionals, and accounting and administrative personnel, bringing the total team size to around 80 to 120 members.
A Well-Differentiated IP Ecosystem
While the calculations above are simplified estimates, they offer a useful snapshot of the structural landscape of Japanese patent firms. What emerges from this distribution is a distinctly two-tiered ecosystem, where firm size strongly correlates with service type and client base.
In Japan, large IP firms typically focus on high-volume prosecution work. Their primary clients are major corporations with extensive intellectual property portfolios and steady filing needs. These firms often operate with highly segmented internal teams and streamlined workflows to handle the substantial volume of applications.
By contrast, smaller IP firms tend to provide a broader range of services beyond just prosecution. These may include various types of filings, searches, legal analysis, opinion work, licensing agreements, oppositions, appeals, and litigation support. Many of these firms work closely with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities, research institutions, and individual inventors, offering tailored advice and hands-on guidance throughout the innovation process.
This complementary division of roles—between large firms managing industrial-scale filings and small firms offering comprehensive advisory services—helps meet the diverse and evolving needs of both domestic and international clients within the Japanese IP system.
