Japan was something of a business backwater in the late 1960s, but Norman Oblon sensed opportunity. He and two lawyer friends had recently founded a northern Virginia intellectual property firm now called Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, and Oblon began establishing relationships with Japanese companies.

“It was pretty out there at the time,” said managing partner Richard Kelly. “I think Norman was one of the earliest people pushing into Japan.”