Japanese boutique firm Isshiki & Partners has strengthened its intellectual property litigation capabilities with the addition of two new partners: Yukio Nagasawa (L), a former IP judge, and Akira Irie, a litigator from Morrison & Foerster.

Nagasawa served as an IP judge for 20 years. During his judicial career, he oversaw more than 2,000 IP cases at various levels of the Japanese court system, including the Tokyo District Court, the Tokyo High Court, and the Supreme Court of Japan. His expertise covers patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Irie, formerly a partner at Morrison & Foerster, has over 15 years of experience in IP litigation. He specialises in advising on IP disputes, contentious patent license negotiations, and commercial disagreements, particularly in sectors like chemicals, digital image processing, semiconductors, mobile telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals. Before joining Morrison & Foerster in 2011, Irie worked at another U.S. law firm, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner.

With the recruitment of Nagasawa and Irie, Isshiki & Partners now has six partners and three counsel.