VASCO DA GAMA OFFICES

Kimihito Kato / Attorney

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 & Foester 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

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

Publications

  • “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

  • "How to deal with a copyright problem in Entertainment Business" at Japan Reserch Institute for New Systems of Society (May, 2010)
  • "New Trends of Entertainment Finance" at Japan Reserch 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 (2008/11)
  • “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)