About
Intellectual Property Division
The Intellectual Property Division conducts educational activities and supports the creation of intellectual property (IP) generated from the results of research conducted at Keio University. This is accomplished by working together with the Open Innovation Division and the Startup Division to find applications for research results in the real world, and maximizing their value as IPs through proper rights acquisition, maintenance, and utilization (technology transfer).
Member
Atsuo Yonezawa
Director of the Intellectual Property Division, Project Professor
Atsuo Yonezawa
Director of the Intellectual Property Division, Project Professor
Atsuo Yonezawa is the Director of the Intellectual Property Division at the Keio University Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a position he held since June 2024, with the aim of contributing to the social implementation and maximization of value of IPs and seeds of the university. Previously, Yonezawa was the Executive Director for Biotech and the Japan Head at IP Innovation & New Technologies, and the Laboratory Head of Advanced Biologics at Drug Discovery Research at Astellas Pharma Inc. He worked on the exploration of several drug candidates for development as a researcher at the Drug Discovery Research, and contributed to the acquisition of several products at the l icensing department. Prior to joining Keio University, he was the General Manager of Biomedical Business Development Department at, Ricoh Company, Ltd, and then a Technology Transfer Manager at Headquarters for International Industry-University Collaboration at University of Tsukuba. He received a Ph.D. from Kyoto University and is a registered pharmacist.
Atsushi Shiomi
Deputy Director of Intellectual Property Division, Project Professor
Atsushi Shiomi
Deputy Director of Intellectual Property Division, Project Professor
Atsushi Shiomi has been working in the Intellectual Property Division of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Keio University since July 2024. Earlier in his career, while working at the Japan Patent Office (JPO), he oversaw examinations, trials and appeals, mainly in the chemical field. He was also engaged in the provision of various services and improvement of systems to promote the use of intellectual property (IP) as well as international negotiations related to IP, after which he joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) where he engaged legal affairs related to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In addition, at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), he contributed to help transfer and commercialize research outcomes through the planning and operation of national research and development projects, the formulation of guidelines for IP management in national R&D projects, and the support for the development of IP strategies. In 2023, he appointed as the Chief Administrative Judge at the JPO. Shiomi holds a master’s degree from Osaka University’s Graduate School of Engineering.
Satoshi Ishimaru
Project Associate Professor
Satoshi Ishimaru
Project Associate Professor
From 1988 to 1995, Ishimaru worked as a research assistant at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science, after which he did bioscience research as a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller Institute and the Osaka Bioscience Institute. In 2005, Satoshi began a 7-year stint as a patent examiner in the Biotechnology Department of the JPO, during which time he examined patents in biotechnology and food. He then worked for a patent firm for a year and a half, after which he moved to the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (NIBIO) and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), where he supported for drug discovery in academia. Ishimura worked for Astellas Pharma in the Research Planning and Intellectual Property departments for about 3.5 years starting in February 2018, and for two years from October 2021, he worked at Ribomic, a drug discovery venture derived from the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo, as the Director of Intellectual Property and Science. Since October 2023, Ishimaru has been working in the Intellectual Property Division of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Satoshi graduated from Kyushu University with a Bachelor of Science degree, and completed a master’s degree from Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Science.
He is also a patent attorney, with a Ph.D. in Science from the University of Tokyo
Yuuko Toya
Project Associate Professor
Yuuko Toya
Project Associate Professor
After becoming a licensed attorney in 2003, Toya worked at a law firm handling patent litigation and other legal disputes and cases related to intellectual property rights. Later, when an ailing family member needed extra care due to an intractable disease, Toya decided to leave the firm and start their own, simultaneously entering graduate school for medical science. Toya is currently engaged in work supporting intellectual property from an academic standpoint, harnessing the experience gained in graduate school pertaining to the host of issues that can arise in the process of carrying out academic research, such as the particular rules regarding the handling of intellectual property and data. In 2014, Toya was put in charge of Keio University’s IP-related legal services. In 2018, they were appointed as Project Associate Professor at the Office for Research Coordination and Administration (RCA) and Toya moved to the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in April 2023.
Toya graduated from Keio University (Department of Law, Faculty of Law), completed graduate studies at the Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health, and accomplished credits for doctoral program in Public Health from the Teikyo University School of Medicine (Department of Hygiene and Public Health).
Attorney at Law, Ph.D. in Medicine, Master of Public Health
Eri Niimura
Project Senior Assistant Professor
Eri Niimura
Project Senior Assistant Professor
With nearly 30 years of experience working in the intellectual property division of a domestic manufacturer, Eri Niimura has been involved in a wide range of fields including chemistry, life sciences, and machinery. Her work has spanned from creating and utilizing intellectual property rights to formulating intellectual property strategies. During her tenure in China, she focused on improving the quality of Chinese intellectual property and educating local researchers, contributing to global business development from an intellectual property perspective.
She joined Keio University in 2019 as a specialist handling intellectual property after doing similar work at another university for over three years starting in 2015. She focused on creating intellectual property rights with an eye towards commercialization, utilizing various support programs of JST and the Japan Patent Office. She provided substantial support to university researchers and university-originated startups, facilitating robust collaboration between academia and industry in the life sciences field, including securing major licenses. Since April 2024, she has been working in the Intellectual Property Division of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
She graduated from International Christian University, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Natural Sciences.