About Us

nipponCompass |Venture Successfully into Japan
is a unique Tokyo-based group established by Japanese, European and US lawyers, IP-experts and economists who are long-term residents of Japan. Our firm fills a market gap in Japan by cleverly combining services on the field of intellectual property law and market entry support. We provide customized, comprehensive services catered to the specific needs of foreign companies and law firms in the Japanese market. Our growing network of reliable associates and cooperation partners located throughout East Asia also stands us in good stead to be the strategic "East Asia Window" for our Western and Japanese clients.

Services In the field of Intellectual Property Law |Protecting Your IP Rights
Our IP law firm covers the entire spectrum of intellectual property protection services - watching, searches, filing applications for registration of trademarks, designs, utility models and patents, filing oppositions, arguments and suits. We are the first in Japan to handle the detection and tracking of copyright infringements and criminal activities conducted over the Internet transnationally. We file law suits on behalf of foreign right holders against infringers in Japan. We also provide technical translations and East-West negotiations in intellectual property, licensing, and various other issues. Finally, we are continuously developing technology that supports our work in order to provide faster and more cost-effective IP services for our clients.

Market Entry Support |Specific Needs, Targeted Solutions
On the Market Entry front, we render all-round support to foreign companies venturing into the Japanese market in the form of business information, market analysis, company set-ups, acquisition of licenses, as well as consultation in taxation, accounting, management, payroll, social and labour insurance issues. But our services do not end at market entry. We are there for our clients while their business is growing in Japan and support them with contact building and communication management with Japanese partners and clients.

Combining IP Services & Market Entry Support | Releasing Synergies
Given proper execution, IP and Market Entry complement each other and its ideal combination creates business opportunities for pioneering companies venturing into the Japanese market. nipponCompass serves as the East-West cultural interface, a communication conduit between foreign businesses entering Japan and local entities that seek international business. For either side, the protection of intellectual property rights in their target markets should be the very first step, but it requires expertise and knowledge of the respective local rules. In cooperation with our local and overseas networks, we ensure that these first steps into a new market are taken properly, thereby releasing synergy between Japanese and foreign firms. 

Our Business Concept
nipponCompass, the “Japanese firm with Western communication style and business management concept” has developed since its foundation in 2006 from a local start-up in Tokyo into one holding a national and transnational network that covers the Asia-Pacific region, which also links Australian, US and European associate-networks. Instead of getting lost in the labyrinth of Japanese business practices and procedures, nipponCompass introduces foreign businesses a sensible and cost-effective way to achieve their goals in Japan by maneuvering smartly through red tape and bureaucracy, because we understand it. We give just the right amount of "Japanese touch" to foreign business concepts and products needed to appeal to and increase the awareness of local companies of their need for foreign services as tools to reach out to the rest of the world. By pursuing the highest standard of quality and service when dealing with domestic matters, nipponCompass has acquired in a short period of time a very successful placement both in the IP as well as commercial sectors. Our growing network abroad allows us to further take care of our clients' business interests not only in Japan and the major East-Asian economies, but also in the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Our Company Philosophy
At nipponCompass, people are our greatest assets. We dedicate our skills fully to help our clients overcome cultural and market barriers and make their business successful in Japan. We are operating as an international team of highly motivated and experienced professionals and see the keys to success lie in having:

• a team comprising both Japanese and foreign experts with many years of professional experience in Japan
• a local presence with transnational perspective
• communication management skills in five European and four Asian languages
• 360° client care philosophy
• highest service quality

Our company philosophy is simple: Our client’s success is our success.

We are committed in providing effective and rapid responses to clients' needs, quality, courtesy and professionalism, an exemplary standard of service, careful and regular follow-up, efficient and accurate translations, as well as flexibility in a changing environment.

Our Clientele
comprises multinational corporations from various sectors hailing from European countries, the United States, Australia and increasingly also from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and other Asian countries. We serve law firms and IP-correspondents as well as service, trading and IT companies. Our services are especially valuable for enterprises entering the Japanese market with a wide portfolio of trademark and patent issues.