"IP Owner's Manual (Chizai no Torisetsu®)" Hands-on Workshop for Hardware and Robotics Founders: Turning Technology, Design and Brand into Weapons for Offense and Defense

A hands-on workshop on early-stage intellectual property strategy for founders building robotics, smart devices and IoT hardware. It covers the risks that commonly hit hardware startups: losing patentability by showing a prototype at a trade show, leaking know-how to contract manufacturers, and infringing others' design rights or trademarks. Through discussion and practical exercises, participants sort out the basics of patents, designs, trademarks and trade secrets, rights ownership in prototyping, manufacturing and joint development contracts, freedom-to-operate checks before mass production, and how to combine IP across hardware and software. The instructor is Kimiyoshi Watanabe, an IP strategy advisor at the Tokyo Intellectual Property Center with a background as a patent attorney. Held at Tokyo Innovation Base 2F ROOM on September 30, 17:00–19:00. Free, capacity 30. Limited to TIB FAB members and co-hosted with the Tokyo Intellectual Property Center.