HISTORY

S. Soga & Co. was founded in 1914 by SUGAO SOGA , a mechanical engineer who graduated from Tokyo Imperial University (now Tokyo University) and then worked in the patent firm of Walter deHavilland, a law professor at Waseda University and the father of the movie stars Olivia deHavilland and Joan Fontaine. Our tradition of representing major foreign clients began with our initial work for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in that same year. In 1923 we moved to the newly opened Marunouchi building in the center of Tokyo and stayed there for the next 67 years.

IN MEMORIUM MICHITERU SOGA, passed away suddenly in May 2007 after over 40 years of leading the firm. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Keio University in 1945 and succeeded to the presidency in 1960. He worked continuously to foster our relationships with firms and companies around the world, while turning over day to day operation of the firm to his sons. His leadership will be sorely missed.

MICHIHARU SOGA, is the second son of our former president. Now the President of the firm, "Hal" became a patent attorney in 1993 before joining us in March of 1994. Graduating in 1987 in mechanical engineering, with an emphasis on hydrodynamics during graduate studies at Keio University, he worked at another patent firm while studying for the bar. Hal is a member of both AIPPI and APAA, and he spent a two year period studying U.S. practice at the U.S. Patent Academy and various U.S. patent firms. After several years of hands on training running the firm on behalf of his father, Hal is well prepared to lead us in this new era of a quickly developing IP world. Although a proficient skier, most of his precious free time is spent with his young family.

On April 2, 1990 we bid a fond farewell to the "Maru Biru" and moved down the road to larger premises in the Kokusai Building (Map to Our Office). One of the reasons behind this move was the need for space to accommodate the terminals and equipment for the new JPO electronic filing system. In fact, from December 1, 1991, we were honored to act as a test firm for the JPO and we played an important role in helping to debug the system. Now, with the introduction of electronic filing using PC's as well as dedicated terminals, our firm has advanced along with the JPO by installing over three PC terminals to complement our extensive electronic filing capabilities for both patents and trademarks. Besides expanding our living space after moving to the Kokusai Building, we have also grown in numbers to about 70 members in our staff, including 12 patent attorneys.