Kimihito Kato
Partner, VASCO DA GAMA OFFICES.
Attorney at Law
Admitted in Japan (Tokyo Bar Association) and the State of New York, U.S.A.
Career
- March, 1990
Graduated from Waseda University, School of Law - April, 1995
Admitted in Japan (member of Tokyo Bar association) - April, 1995
Worked for Matsuo & Kosugi - 1999
Served as member of Committee to Improve Business Custom in Sports Industry (Ministry of International Trade and Industry: MITI=Japan Sports Industries Federation) - 2001
Master of Laws (LLM) from New York University School of Law
Worked for Morrison & Foerster LLP in Los Angeles, California, USA - 2002
Admitted in the State of New York - September, 2003
Worked as a partner at B.D.J. Law and Accounting Office - November, 2003
Passed California bar examination (to be registered in California State) - June, 2006
Established Kato & Partners - August, 2008
Established VASCO DA GAMA OFFICES as a partner - 2012
Served as chairman of Committee for the Finance to the Entertainment Contents (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: METI) - 2012
Served as member of Committee for the Exploitation of the Entertainment Contents (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: METI)
Practice Areas
- Entertainment Law
- Media Law
- Sports Law
- License Law (Including Character License and Corporate License)
- Finance Law
- International Law Practice
- Corporate Law
- Litigation
Titles and Memberships
- Arbitrator of Japan Sports Arbitration Agency
- Member of The Copyright Law Association of Japan
- Member of Japan Sports Law Association
Publications
- “Doctrine of Exhaustion and Protection of Copyright Licensee” (as an article of “Culture, Media, and Entertainment Law / Vol.8 No.1”, Korea, July, 2014)
- “Report of Study on Financing to Film Contents” (Posted on the website of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, August, 2012)
- “The Newest Issues of Entertainment Law -focusing on controversies and practices in Korea and Japan-” (Co-written. Published by Jinwoan-Sa, October, 2011)
- “International Financing in Japanese Film Industry - Case Method of Rain Fall” (Posted on the website of UNIJAPAN, Public Interest Incorporated Association, June, 2011)
- “IFTA Arbitration Award Enforcement Booklet” (co-written by Kato Esq. and Kataoka Esq. Published by Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), January, 2008. )
- “Entertainment Legal Practice” (co-written by Kato Esq., Kataoka Esq. and Okawara Esq. Published by Nikkei Publishing Inc. December, 2007)
Lectures
- “Basic Legal Knowledge for International Animation Market” at Tokyo Animation Business Accelerator (October, 2018)
- “Basic Knowledge of Copyright Law for Entertainment Contents Business” at Tokyo Contents Incubation Center (April, 2017)
- “English-language License Agreement” at licensing Education program of LIMA Japan (October, 2016)
- “Basic Knowledge of Copyright Law for Entertainment Contents Business” at Tokyo Contents Incubation Center (July, 2016)
- “Basic Legal and Contractual Knowledge for Licensing Business” at LIMA Japan (July, 2015)
- “Points on Rights Clearance for Overseas Development of Audiovisual Contents” at Japan Research Institute for New Systems of Society (April, 2015)
- “General remarks of the Licensing Business and the basic of the contracts” at licensing Education program of LIMA Japan (July, 2014)
- “Globalization looming of the License Agreement” at Department of Master of Intellectual Property (MIP) of Tokyo University of Science, Graduate School of Innovation Studies. (July, 2014)
- “License Agreement for a Licensee” at 3rd Licensing Japan (July, 2013)
- “A seminar regarding Sports Facilities and Real Estate” (Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea) (May, 2013)
- “A basic course of the License Agreement - a minimum knowledge in License business” at 2nd Licensing Japan (July, 2012)
- “A study on Japan Baseball Players Association as a Labor Union and Agent System” at Joint seminars of dispute-settlement procedure for the development of the professional sports industry (The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, Konkuk Law School, Seoul, Korea) (June, 2012)
- “Concrete Examples and Solutions of Troubles arising from License Agreement” at 1st Licensing Japan (July, 2011)
- Entertainment Law International Symposium - Trend and Legal Issues in Cultural Contents Industry in Japan - (The Institute of Legal Studies, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea)
- “Concrete Examples and Solutions of Troubles arising from License Agreement” at 1st Licensing Japan (July, 2011)
- Entertainment Law International Symposium - Trend and Legal Issues in Cultural Contents Industry in Japan - (The Institute of Legal Studies, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea)
- “Current Cases in Music Industry” (hosted by Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea, January, 2011)
- 16th IASL (International Association of Sports Law) World Congress on Sports Law (Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea) “Sponsoring, Broadcasting Rights in Japanese Professional Sports” (November, 2010)
- 7th Cultural Industry and Law (Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea) “Legal Issues Related to Sports Business in Japan” (June, 2010)
- “How to deal with a copyright problem in Entertainment Business” at Japan Research Institute for New Systems of Society (May, 2010)
- “New Trends of Entertainment Finance” at Japan Research Institute for New Systems of Society (July, 2009)
- “Legal Practice in Character Licensing” at CharaBiz Lectures of The University of Tokyo The Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies (November, 2008)
- “New Trend of Law in License Agreement Practice in the first half of 2008” (hosted by LIMA, July, 2008 )
- “What’s the Entertainment Law?” at the 6th lecture for the students who want to be lawyers (hosted by Waseda Law School, June, 2008)
- “Corporate License Agreement and Legal Protection - New Legal Knowledge for Corporate License” at the 4th Character Business lecture (hosted by LIMA, April, 2008)
- “New Business Model in Entertainment and License Agreement - from Movie, Music, Game to Sport” at Licensing Asia 2007 (co-hosted by Nihon Keizai Simbun Inc. and LIMA)
- “New Legal Knowledge for Trade Marks and Brand License” at the 2nd License Business Practice lecture (hosted by LIMA, April, 2007)
- Special Program in Tokyo International Film Festival (UCLA EXTENTION Entertainment Department, October, 2004)
- “Secrets To Sell Japanese Films in The Worldwide Market” at Japan External Trade Organization (July, 2004)
- “All You Need To Know About How To Contract With Hollywood” at Japan Research Institute for New Systems of Society (November, 2003)