Job Description:

Business Overview

Rakuten Group focuses on expanding Rakuten Symphony business that provides to global customers our fully virtualized cloud native mobile network established in Japan, in addition to operating mobile network business, which is the key strategic area of the Rakuten group.

Department Overview

We are hiring new members that supports intellectual property activities in our mobile network operator business and Rakuten Symphony business. The Rakuten Mobile business is actively promoting global business and development activities in Japan and overseas.  We have many intellectual property teams outside of Japan and are developing an intellectual property organization consisting of multi-national members. 

Intellectual Property members are rapidly expanding along with the business growth, communicating with company executives, who have high intellectual property awareness.  We are also monthly presenting IP update at Asakai, which is a company-wide conference that all employees join.  Please join Intellectual Property Dept. of the company that disrupt the tradition and establish new and original intellectual property activities at the battlefront of mobile communications.

We are now in the midst of establishing intellectual property activities at Rakuten Group’s mobile business and Rakuten Symphony business from scratch.  It would be once-in-a-lifetime experience, even if you are in the intellectual property field for long.  Most members were hired mid-career.  Some newly grads.  Mid-career members are from intellectual property depts of private companies, patent law firms, intellectual property research companies, etc.

Position:

Why We Hire

It is necessary to further strengthen our licensing, contact review and  intellectual property planning functions (SEP Management, OSS governance). We would like to recruit talented personnel from outside the company.

Our organization is driven by talented early-career professionals who take ownership and make a real impact, while experienced senior members actively support the transfer of expertise and know-how. This creates an environment that combines speed, autonomy, and continuous learning, making it an excellent place to build and accelerate your career.


・Develop expertise in intellectual property dispute management, licensing negotiations, contract review, and IP planning, including OSS governance and SEP management.
・Gain practical experience in balancing legal, business, and technical considerations while supporting strategic business initiatives.
・Build project management, stakeholder management, negotiation, and risk management skills through collaboration with internal and external partners.
・Pursue career paths as a specialist in licensing, contracts, standardization, SEP strategy, and OSS governance, or advance into leadership and management roles within the intellectual property function.

Position Details

・Dispute Resolution & Negotiation
 Handle intellectual property disputes and licensing negotiations. Manage warning letters, IP assertion and defense matters, settlement discussions, and negotiation of licensing terms and conditions.

・Contract Review
 Review various agreements from business, technical, and intellectual property perspectives to mitigate risks and support business objectives. Conduct contract analysis and negotiate terms for NDAs, joint development agreements, license agreements, service agreements, and other commercial contracts.


・SEP Management
 Drive the strategic planning and management of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) to strengthen business competitiveness and maximize intellectual property value. Oversee traceability management between standardization contributions and related patent filings, monitor the progress of essentiality evaluations, manage the FRAND declaration process, maintain SEP portfolios, and coordinate overall activities to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs).

・OSS Governance
Establish and operate governance frameworks for the proper use and management of Open Source Software (OSS), ensuring license compliance across the organization. Develop OSS usage policies, conduct usage reviews and approvals, perform license analyses, and provide compliance training and awareness programs.

Work Environment

・Team Size: Approximately 30 members in the Intellectual Property Department based in Tokyo.
・Age Distribution: Employees in their 20s and 30s to employees in their 40s and 50s are approximately 3 : 2.
・Hiring Mix: Predominantly mid-career hires, with a small number of new graduate hires (2 employees).

Patent law firms, Corporate intellectual property departments


・An individual transitioned from an administrative role at a patent law firm to the IP Administration Team, where the individual established a global patent filing scheme. The individual later moved to the IP Planning function and led initiatives including internal policy development, OSS review framework implementation, SEP process management framework establishment, and team leadership as a manager.

・An individual joined from a patent prosecution role within a corporate intellectual property department and was assigned to the IP Strategy Group. The individual developed AI-driven approaches for patent search and analysis activities, while also leading executive reporting and patent filing strategy planning.

Mandatory Qualifications:

・At least 3 years of experience in intellectual property-related work within a corporate environment.
・Possess practical, business-level English skills necessary for negotiations and have a TOEIC score of 800 or higher.

Desired Qualifications:

・Strong business communication skills for coordinating and collaborating with stakeholders .
・Business negotiation experience and skills beyond intellectual property disputes and licensing matters.
・Technical knowledge of the telecommunications and/or information technology (IT) industries.

Other Information:

Additional information on Location

Rakuten Crimson House
1-14-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Related Pages
・Employee Benefits: https://global.rakuten.com/corp/careers/benefit/
・Employee Conditions: https://global.rakuten.com/corp/careers/information/
・Culture: https://global.rakuten.com/corp/careers/culture/

#corporate #legal #IP #audit #operationdiv #RakutenMobile

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