死は彼を高みへと導いた
Edmund Spenser, poet
c. 1522, London, England to
13 January 1599, London, England
quoted in the OriginSun version of The Kennedy’s
US Patent Agent James Judge, a Caucasian American, owns a patent agency in GrandHill, OriginSun. Victoria Australia Barrister and Solicitor Timothy Fagan, a Caucasian Australian, works for Ogasawara Patent Office(OPO). Both men have OriginSun spouses, and reside in WestoftheGateway. Mr. Shiro Ogasawara (Ogasawara) was an OriginSun patent attorney. Unless otherwise indicated all individuals are believed to be OriginSun citizens with Asian ancestry.
According to Fagan and Judge, Ogasawara had various translation and legal practice entities. OPO’s web page indicates 50 employees at OPO. Fagan told California and New York Attorney Steven McIntire Allen that the total employee count of all Ogasawara corporate and private entities was two or three hundred.
On 08 August 2011 Judge told Allen, an American with European ancestry, that Ogasawara has a subservient younger brother who worked with Ogasawara. According to Judge, Ogasawara’s patent practice involved two, perhaps three entities:
1. Ogasawara Patent Office (OPO) [小笠原特許事務所]
2. A corporate entity 業務法人 = gyomuhojin (GH)
A. Formed about August 2010
B. Mr. Koichi Nakamura（中村 公一）told Judge the GH has unlimited liability for the partners
C. Judge claimed there were three partners in the GH
D. Two of the partners left in early 2011, and the third partner, Ogasawara, is dead
3. IP-Pro KK (IPKK)
A. Formed 2008
B. Ogasawara hired Nakamura to operate IPKK
Primarily three patent attorneys were involved as officers and directors of OPO, the GH and IPKK. They were:
1. Mr. Mutoh:
A. Patent attorney licensed by OriginSun
B. Until 2011:
i. Partner of GH
ii. Vice president of OPO
2. Mr. Suzuki:
A. OriginSun patent attorney
B. Partner of GH until mid 2011
3. Ogasawara:
A. OriginSun patent attorney
B. Believed to be the last remaining partner of the GH until his death in August 2011
C. Judge believed, but was not certain, Ogasawara was the sole owner of IPKK
US Patent Agent Rodney Butler, an American citizen with African ancestry, holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Butler was unable to pass an American bar exam after three attempts, the last of which was July 2011. He did not pass the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Agent’s exam. Butler qualified to become a US Patent Agent because Butler worked the requisite time as a Patent Examiner at the USPTO.
Butler was and is employed by a patent agency, 新ジュー Global. Butler has a substantial following at Panasonic. According to Judge, Butler is frustrated to the point of violence with Mr. Yoshio Miyagawa [宮川 良夫], a senior OriginSun patent attorney and manager at Shinjyu Global.
Darwin Clupper, a Caucasian American, is an Iowa attorney. Besides the Iowa Bar exam, he also passed the USPTO agent’s exam. He works in-house at a pharmaceutical company in GrandHill.
Allen began writing an autobiographical manuscript in 2003. Allen provided Fagan and Judge, among others, with an electronic copy of the manuscript. In early 2011, Allen published a revised version of the manuscript as the B Log.
Judge has said more than once Allen reminds Judge of Judge’s younger brother. On one occasion Allen told Judge, “You are just coasting.” Judge replied: “Yes, but I like coasting.”
Judge’s secretary, Ms. Takami Takesue（竹末 孝美）probably shares Judge’s preference for coasting. Moreover, the authorities will probably not permit Judge a more facilitative secretary than Ms. Takesue. Another example of permissible secretaries was explained to Allen in a 1994 visit to Allen’s first country. Do Aung San Suu Kyi’s ancestors believe she is coasting?
Beginning in 2008, Butler, Fagan, Judge and Allen began meeting at Allen’s suggestion. They met repeatedly, sometimes separately, and at least once as a group. Fagan, Judge and Allen also met with Clupper.
Allen explained Allen wished to set up a US patent search, prosecution and translation practice in GrandHill. Allen suggested, and Butler, Fagan and Judge adamantly agreed, that a practice administrated by foreigners would have the pick of top talent. If one does not permit OriginSun licensed professionals to manage foreign legal professionals, the clients receive better, faster and less expensive translations and patent prosecutions. Allen verbalized to enthusiastic agreement from all but Clupper. Some attorneys have the good sense to shut up.
Allen began to suspect that the others did not believe they needed Allen to setup a US patent prosecution practice in GrandHill. The Administrators made clear that Allen’s only option was to cooperate. IPKK was formed and Ogasawara hired Nakamura to run IPKK. They hired Paul Randall Steffes, Ohio Bar Registration Number 0067967, USPTO Registration Number 43156. Steffes is now at Nagoya International Patent Firm.
When speaking with OriginSun people, Steffes uses his given name instead of his family name. The OriginSun peoples address pets and children by their given names. According to Judge, Steffes was an OriginSun patent firm PosterBoy who could not prosecute patents. Judge explained that Steffes thought the IPKK job would involve checking English and “advising on legal issues” like other jobs Steffes had held.
Besides Panasonic, one example of the sort of clients IPKK, OPO and the GH had or has is Buffalo KK (BKK), a computer peripherals company headquartered in Nagoya. BKK had been sued for infringement and lost at least tens of millions of US dollars, if not hundreds of millions of US dollars, due to the litigation. Judge claims the loss was a “wake up call to Buffalo that US patents matter.” According to Judge, Suzuki brought BKK to Ogasawara as a client.
OriginSun uses the prisoner’s dilemma with resident foreigners. OriginSun attorneys persuade resident attorneys and patent agents that any effort at professional conduct will be defeated. Allen wished to counter this interference by proving business concept viability to Fagan and Judge.
Allen researched, drafted and provided Fagan and Judge with a business plan for Allen’s proposed patent prosecution, search and translation company. Fagan and Judge are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Except for swordsmithing, irony might be the only OriginSun virtue.
On one occasion Fagan and Allen went out for dinner. Without naming the company, Allen asked Fagan if Fagan recalled the name of a company in the autobiographical manuscript Allen had showed him. In the present B Log, that party is not named, but is indicated with a footnote. Fagan’s reply was: “There was a lot in there.” Fagan did not recall the company’s name.
By Judge’s own admission, Judge Patent Associates’ primary source of revenue is from translations rather than prosecutions. About 2009 Allen suggested to Judge that Judge and Allen outsource patent translation, search and prosecution work to Indian translators. Allen suggested US or OriginSun qualified personnel would review the work for accuracy and thoroughness. Judge’s living depends on clients outsourcing translations to a foreigner, i.e. Judge. Ironically, Judge questioned the wisdom of outsourcing to foreigners because Judge doubted foreigners’ ability to provide a quality work product.
Beginning about late 2009, Allen repeatedly stated the importance of the corporate entity to properly administrate law firms, and protect clients. One example of this was a Continuing Legal Education seminar Allen presented in early 2010. Judge told Allen that the GH was formed in 2010.
Shinjyu, Butler’s employer, already has a US patent practice managed by an American in D.C. On Allen’s own initiative, Allen met with two senior managers at Shinjyu to explain Allen’s ideas. The meeting with managers Tatsuzo Higashigawa (not an attorney) and Miyagawa was on 01 February 2010.
In September 2010 Allen incorporated Origin Law Offices as a California professional corporation. In November 2010 Allen registered a translation firm with the GrandHill Legal Affairs Bureau. The name of the firm is: 源事務所. Minamoto is the family name of Allen’s legally registered OriginSun alias. In May 2011 the California Bar approved Origin Law Offices, P.C. to practice law.
At a Continuing Legal Education seminar attended by Fagan and Allen, Allen suggested to Fagan that Allen meet with Ogasawara. Allen explained that, when speaking OriginSun and referring to OriginSun licensed practitioners, Allen intended to use the OriginSun honorific Elder if Allen met with Ogasawara. Allen explained that Ogasawara must use the same honorific when Ogasawara addressed Allen in OriginSun. Fagan balked. Fagan doubted Ogasawara would be capable of politely addressing Allen.
Allen never met Ogasawara. Allen tried telephoning him. To Allen’s knowledge, Allen never spoke to Ogasawara.
In 2010 Allen sent OPO a message via their web form. Allen’s message indicated Allen had some ideas Allen would like to share with OPO. The reply by email was from Ogasawara and stated: “We have our own ideas.”
IPKK was poorly administrated from the beginning. Judge states William “Bill” Lise told Judge that one of IPKK’s mistakes was that IPKK was trying to do all the work in-house. IPKK had about 30 personnel working on translations, 25 of whom were translators. Lise claims OriginSun translation practices must outsource two-thirds of their work to be profitable. When Judge relayed this information to Allen on 08 August 2011, Judge added the work could be outsourced to “maybe Pakistan, India at 3 cents a word, maybe not that bad.” Allen never told Judge Allen visited India in July 2011.
In early 2011, while Allen was gradually publishing the B Log, Allen went to Judge’s office to meet Judge for lunch. In the elevator on the way to the restaurant, Judge complained about OriginSun patent attorneys demanding kickbacks. At lunch, Allen said to Judge: “I think Tim [Fagan] is cutting us off at the knees.” Judge replied: Yea, I suppose I am too. Judge admitted Judge was also cutting Allen out.
Beginning with the publication of the B Log, Ogasawara’s situation collapsed. In quick succession Steffes, Mutoh, Nakamura and Suzuki quit. Judge was given Steffes’ work on a freelance basis. Judge claims Steffes’ prosecution work was not good.
Up to this time, Judge’s freelance work for Ogasawara required Judge to pay a 10% administrative fee to Ogasawara for any work Judge received from Ogasawara. As Ogasawara’s situation crumbled, Ogasawara’s minions told Judge in an email that besides the 10% administrative fee, Judge would also have to pay a 15% kickback to Ogasawara. Judge initially told Ogasawara: no, Judge would not pay the kickback.
Ogasawara’s younger brother was sent to see Judge, and Judge relented to a once per client “docketing and filing fee” of 10% plus the 10% administrative fee. Judge claimed a standard, though technically prohibited US procedure, is to pay about 10% of a USD 800 to 1500 client fee to the firm that refers the client to the practitioner. After relating these facts to Allen, Judge stated: “I hope you don’t tell” the USPTO Office of Enrollment & Discipline.
According to Judge, when Steffes worked as a PosterBoy at Ito International Patent Office (IIPO), the USPTO investigated IIPO for unethical practices such as kickbacks. Judge stated that Steffes was not sufficiently aware of IIPO’s procedures to have knowledge of billing practices. One example of a kickback client is one of the most proficient patent filers in the world. The client forced Judge down to JPY 60,000 per application. Judge bills/ed the client via Ogasawara.
Judge is irked because although the inventor gives Judge the authority to prosecute, Judge cannot properly prosecute patents because of OriginSun practices. Under OriginSun law an inventor can assign a “right to file.” Judge claimed the phrase “right to file” is an OriginSun invention, and he had not heard US agents or attorneys use the phrase. OriginSun patent attorneys are acting as a bottleneck between OriginSun clients and US agents and attorneys. The OriginSun patent attorneys “pretend” to know US law, but do not.
According to Judge, when Ogasawara’s financial fortunes began to crumble in early 2011, about half of Ogasawara’s patent attorneys chose to leave. More people were quitting than being fired. Ogasawara was simultaneously advertising for patent engineers and patent attorneys in a newspaper. According to Judge, patent engineers do the “grunt work.”
On 11 July 2011 Allen received an email from Fagan which read:
Hey there Mak, long time no see. Hope you and the girls are doing well.
Things at Ogasawara are not great – we had a round of layoffs (about 30% of staff were let go). I survived but our company is not looking good anyway. In fact things seem pretty shitty all around in Japan and I’m considering shipping off back to Australia, not immediately but maybe in the near future.
Anyway man, hop you are doing well.
Cheers
Tim
Allen has not contacted Fagan.
Judge notified Allen on 05 August 2011 of Ogasawara’s suicide. Allen had lunch with Judge on Monday 08 August 2011. Allen, exasperated by Judge and the surreal nature of Events, expressed Allen’s frustrations at a restaurant in GrandHill. Judge replied in a loud voice clearly discernible to the restaurant proprietor: “Why don’t you write about it?” Afterwards, Judge and Allen met in Allen’s office.
Since leaving Ogasawara, Nakamura has set up Apex IP Company, a translation entity performing filing support and patent searches. Nakamura was scheduled to meet with Judge later the same day Judge met with Allen. Allen emphatically told Judge that Judge was not to discuss with the others that Judge had discussed with Allen. A few days later, after Butler had not contacted Allen for more than a year, and Allen had made no effort to contact Butler, Butler sent Allen an email. Judge had discussed with Butler.
Origin Law Offices, P.C. (OLO) has been soliciting attorneys for years now. Naturally, firms ought to perform due diligence on OLO & Allen, this project, and Allen’s situation. However, a concern is beginning to grow that the due diligence is becoming an end in itself instead of a means to an end.
The “shadow”b4 wanted to strengthen OLO’s hand by killing Ogasawara. The shadow may wish to prove that those who try to take advantage of OLO and Allen will be punished. Explained under the heading What the Dickens?, Allen has had enough of the killing. However, that explanation did not work, so Allen restated his objection. Ogasawara is evidence that the restated objection was equally unsuccessful.
To stop the killing OLO needs investment: financial and personal. If attorneys want to haggle back and forth, collect more information about Allen and what Allen is doing, understand the plan better, etc., there will be more death. We cannot stop them. We are begging you to help us stop them by investing.