James Main

James is a European and UK Patent Attorney. With a special understanding of the needs of Japanese clients, James has been prosecuting patent applications in Europe for over a decade. He also advises on infringement risks for companies having or considering operations in Europe.

James handles a broad spectrum of work originating from the UK and Japan. He has great familiarity in the fields of semiconductors, digital imaging, image projection and telecommunications, as well as an excellent understanding of how inventions involving software are examined in the UK and Europe. James represents a number of top Japanese companies and has successfully defended his clients’ patents before the Boards of Appeal. He has also achieved revocation in European opposition proceedings. He enjoys visiting patent applicants and attorneys regularly in Japan.

For domestic clients James is particularly experienced in the field of technology transfer, with a focus on medical technology. Academics find him easy to work with. He is able to draft patent applications tailored for filing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office or in the UK or Europe. James provides valuable guidance right from drafting and prosecuting patent applications through to defending European patents in adversarial cases and advising on third party patents as part of freedom to operate exercises. He also instructs patent attorneys abroad to obtain protection for his clients there, especially in the USA and Japan.

As well as regularly representing his clients at hearings before the European Patent Office, James has experience of the hearings procedure before the UK Intellectual Property Office.

In addition to his patent work, James has prosecuted industrial designs across five continents. He has won contentious proceedings before the European Union Intellectual Property Office, having registered designs of his client’s competitor declared invalid.

Before joining J A Kemp in 2007, James studied in Japan and currently holds a certificate for the second tier (N2) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. James became a partner in 2017 and is based in our London office.