is one of the five largest

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

s in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The firm was founded in 1990 by ten

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

specialists who left the law firm of Nishimura & Partners. It grew quickly in ensuing years, with 33 attorneys as of 1998 and more than 600 domestic and foreign attorneys and patent attorneys as of 2020.https://www.tmi.gr.jp/about/organization.html TMI is headquartered in the

Roppongi Hills Mori Tower is a 54-story mixed-use skyscraper in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. Completed in 2003 and named after builder Minoru Mori, it is the centerpiece of the Roppongi Hills urban development. It is the sixth-tallest building in Tokyo at . The tower has a ...

Minato, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits th ...

, Japan. Its other offices in Japan include Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka and the firm also has offices in Bangkok, Beijing,

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, London, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore and

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. It opened its first domestic branch office in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

in 2012. It was the first Japanese law firm to open an office in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. TMI opened an

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

office in 2018 by acquiring the four-lawyer practice of Isamu Omizu, a former vice chairman of the Osaka Bar Association. The firm has joint ventures with the American law firm of

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,200 legal professionals in 31 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Mergers with other law firms stimulated global growth and led to ...

, the British law firm of

Simmons & Simmons Simmons & Simmons is a British law firm. About half of its staff are in the London office, in CityPoint, off Moorgate. It has branch offices in some countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has been mentioned in the ''Financial Times' ...

and the German law firm of ARQIS Rechtsanwälte. The Simmons & Simmons venture, begun in 2001, was the first registered joint venture between a major Japanese law firm and an international law firm under the

attorney at foreign law , or for short, are lawyers from foreign countries licensed to practice law in Japan. The term ''gaiben'' is composed of the characters for , defined as "outside, without" and ", defined as speech, tongue". Two authoritative translations of the t ...

system. TMI's Singapore office is also shared with Simmons & Simmons. Mori Tower 201306

The firm is particularly known for its

practice, being ranked one of the top 3

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

firms in Japan by ''World Trademark Review'' and winning the "Best Japanese IP Firm 2013" award at the International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards. In 2010, the firm hired a former head of the Intellectual Property High Court as an advisor. Chambers & Partners ranks TMI in the areas of Banking & Finance, Competition/Antitrust, Corporate/M&A, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Life Science, Projects & Energy and Real Estate.

Notable people

Toshiharu Furukawa is a Japanese medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintain ...

, member of the House of Councillors * Isao Imai, former Japanese Supreme Court justice *

Tokuji Izumi is a Japanese attorney (Special Counsel of TMI Associates). He was a career judge and a Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the Supreme court, highest court in Japan. It has ...

, former Japanese Supreme Court justice *

Chiharu Saiguchi is a Japanese attorney and former justice of the Supreme Court of Japan. Saiguchi attended Chuo University, graduating with an LLB in 1961, and was admitted to the bar in 1966. He practiced law as head of the Saiguchi Law Office from 1970 to 2004. ...

, former Japanese Supreme Court justice

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:TMI Associates Law firms of Japan Law firms established in 1990