Chinin Tana, Of Counsel

Practice Experience

Chinin Tana is a senior international business lawyer with over three decades of experience assisting international companies with a broad range of transactional matters. During the course of his distinguished career, Mr. Tana has advised a number of major Japanese corporate clients in various industries with US market-entry strategy and growth of their US businesses, and regularly assists clients at various stages of development with these and other matters. Mr. Tana regularly works with companies from throughout Asia to support their US operations, and also supports US companies with domestic as well as international transactions. Mr. Tana is a former partner with Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman) in San Francisco, and has been affiliated with other international law firms, including Baker & McKenzie in Tokyo. Mr. Tana has also advised on complex dispute resolution and litigation management.

    Representative areas of expertise include:
  • Business and trade finance, including private securities placements, angel and institutional venture capital, debentures and convertible securities, commercial and private secured and unsecured lending, and letters of credit.
  • Intellectual property portfolio development and protection, including internal and external development, licensing, acquisition, and divestiture of patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
  • Strategic growth opportunities, including joint research and development programs, joint ventures, complex licensing, asset acquisitions, mergers, and business acquisitions.
  • Manufacturing and trade channels, including single- and second-source OEM’s, and distributor, reseller, and sales representative networks.
  • Commercial transactions for the purchase and sale of components, finished goods, and integrated systems.
  • Divestitures and liquidity events, including mergers, acquisitions, earn-outs, succession transfers, buy-outs, wind-ups, and dissolutions.
  • Entity selection, structuring, control, governance, reorganizations, and exit strategy planning.
  • Commercial real estate acquisition, financing, leasing, and subleasing.
  • Equity participation incentive rights, including qualified and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock participation rights, and stock bonus awards.
  • Complex business dispute resolution and litigation management.

Bar Admissions

  • California State Bar, admitted 1970.
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1970.
  • United Stated District Court for the Central District of California, 2002.

Education

  • J.D. cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1969.
  • A.B. with honors, University of California, Berkeley, 1964, Phi Beta Kappa.
  • Tokyo University Law Department, 1976-1977 (non-degree student).

Public Service / Community Affairs

  • Past Founding Director, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.
  • Past Director, Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California.
  • Past member of Asian American Manufacturers Association, Hong Kong Business Association, Japan Society of Northern California, Korean American Business Association, Singapore American Business Association, Southeast Asian Business Association, Lawyer’s Committee of the American Electronics Association, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

Selected Articles / Publications

  • Co-author, The 1964 Civil Rights Act and Japanese Company Employment Practices, Journal of The Japanese Institute of International Business Law (in Japanese).
  • Co-author, Strategic Management of Intellectual Property, Journal Of The Japanese Institute of International Business Law.
  • Co-author, Effective Cost Management of Patent Infringement Litigation, Monte Jade Society Monthly Publication.

Languages

  • English, Japanese (fluent).