About
Intellectual Property Division
The Intellectual Property Division educates and supports stakeholders to lay the groundwork for converting Keio University research outcomes into intellectual assets. The division also secures the appropriate rights for generated intellectual property, and facilitates the flow of innovation from the lab to market. Working collaboratively with the Startup Division and Strategy and Planning Section, they aim to find real-world applications for research while maximizing the value of intellectual assets.
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
Masami Iida
Technology Transfer and Alliance, Project Professor
Masami Iida
Technology Transfer and Alliance, Project Professor
Masami Iida is the head of the Open Innovation Division at the Keio University Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a position he has held since November 2023. Iida supports the development and strengthening of collaborative frameworks between campuses, campus offices, and organizations, to accelerate the real-world implementation of research seeds generated by the university scientists and continue to respond to the unmet needs of the world. Prior to joining Keio University, he has experience in both the research and development divisions at Seikagaku Corporation as the Central Research Laboratory Vice President, Head of Research Strategy, and Department Manager Drug Discovery. During his 25 years in drug discovery research and development, he has engaged in discovery of several clinical stage compounds and multiple development candidates, mainly on orthopedic disorders and ophthalmic diseases, and oversaw collaborative research agreements with domestic and international academic institutions. Iida received a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo.
Yusuke Hirano
Technology Transfer and Alliance, Project Associate Professor
Yusuke Hirano
Technology Transfer and Alliance, Project Associate Professor
Yusuke Hirano joined the Open Innovation Division in September 2023 to contribute to the promotion of collaborative research activities at the university. He spent 20 years as a researcher in the Drug Discovery Research Division of Astellas Pharma Inc., during which time he was involved in 10 pre-clinical research projects and contributed to the creation of two clinical development products. Hirano was then put in charge of research-related contracting, and over the following 12 years oversaw many collaborative research agreements with domestic and international academic institutions and private companies, and was involved in strategic research partnerships with several academic institutions in Japan. Hirano holds an Master of Science from Tokyo Metropolitan University.