Many years ago, a surprising turn of events taught me a lesson I'll never forget about working with Japanese companies.

A U.S. law firm had invited the e-discovery company I worked at to make a presentation to its client in Japan. The law firm had worked with the client for several months and it was time to talk discovery. To be impartial, the law firm had invited several e-discovery vendors to present.

This was the client's first time as a plaintiff in an IP case and its executives were a bit nervous. We listened to their concerns, told them a little about our company and answered their questions.