Before joining Hiroe and Associates, Mr. Crapenhoft worked in California as a patent lawyer and an intellectual property attorney for more than 14 years. Mr. Crapenhoft will assist our Japanese clients with their patent and trademark matters in the United States by coordinating communications between our office and the offices of our U.S. associates. We are pleased to announce that through Mr. Crapenhoft Hiroe and Associates has also now begun filing and prosecuting U.S. patent applications directly from our Gifu City office. In addition to patent and trademark prosecution, Mr. Crapenhoft can also assist with patent acquisitions, licenses, research and development agreements, and other technology transfers. Mr. Crapenhoft can also help with patent litigation in the courts of the United States, and with matters involving trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights. Mr. Crapenhoft will also help us to better serve our U.S. and other international clients by coordinating communications between our international associates and our own Japanese attorneys and staff.

Mr. Crapenhoft has worked with technologies including implantable medical devices and diagnostic equipment, parts and components for automobiles, aircraft, and other vehicular applications, aerospace structures, telecommunications equipment, computers and other electronic devices, software, business methods, equipment and methods for semiconductor manufacturing, and equipment and methods for motion picture and television production.

Mr. Crapenhoft holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (magna cum laude) from the University of Missouri, and received his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law. He is a member of the California State Bar and is admitted to practice as a registered patent attorney before the United States Patent Office. Mr. Crapenhoft is a native English speaker, and can speak Japanese at a basic conversational level. Mr. Crapenhoft can be reached at crapenhoft@hiroe.co.jp.