What is “InnoReview”?
We often hear the voices of business people：
- “Contract review work needs time and efforts, so we need help.”
- “One of our legal team has just quitted the job, but we cannot find an appropriate replacement.”
- “No legal staff member can review English or intellectual property-related contracts.”
In such cases, “InnoReview,” Innventier’s outsourcing service for contract review, can be the best solution for you. Under a flat-rate pricing structure (*) and with a quick order system using an individual e-mail address for each client, you can straightforwardly incorporate contract reviews by experts into your routine workflow. Also, you will be able to realize the higher accuracy of contract reviews, lighten the burdens on your legal staff, and retrench fixed costs.
*Additional charges will be billed if the usage of services exceeds the service ceiling set for each client. For the detail, please see below.
That is why many of our corporate clients choose and use InnoReview, the service that meets their needs.
“InnoReview” Solves Your Problems
Contract review related works are too burdensome.
“The contract review process requires a lot of man-hours and, thus, experienced legal staff members are unable to take their time to work on more significant matters.”
“Our legal personnel are too busy to find a chance to ask a lawyer for assistance.”
Our personnel do not have sufficient contract review skills.
“We have no legal staff with a contract review skill and cannot recruit a competent person. Checking only the main terms and conditions leaves us with anxiety.”
“Contracts become more convoluted and advanced recently, so we want to learn know-how of contract reviews from the external corporate legal practice lawyers.”
We want to cut fixed costs of our back-office section.
“By using the outsourcing service, we want to reduce our legal team’s routine workloads so that the present small team can work more efficiently.”
“Our legal section is understaffed, but we want to avoid the additional staffing that requires the increase in personnel cost.”
We have no staff to review contracts in English.
“Recently, we often sign contracts in English. But we have no legal personnel who can check and review drafts in English received from foreign parties.”
“Some members can read and write English, but they are unfamiliar with legal documents so they cannot comprehend technical English, so-called ‘legalese.'”
Arrangements for a contract review are troublesome.
“It is troublesome to prepare explanatory material and to set up a meeting etc. for a contract review.”
“We don’ want to spend the time, just to avoid unexpected billing, to ask for an estimate and coordinate inside the company every time when we need a contract review.”
We need professional reviews of IP-related contracts.
“We want to receive expert’s review of contracts especially in the field of IP. But it is not easy to pick an adequate lawyer who can work with such contracts.”
“We hesitate to ask a patent attorney’s office for contract reviews.”
We urgently need a “pinch hitter” for our legal team.
“One of our legal staff has just quit the job without prior notice. So, we urgently need someone who can review contracts for a limited time until we find a replacement.”
It takes too long to receive a review result from a lawyer.
“Whenever we ask a lawyer for a contract review, we have to wait for the result for several days or more. So, we can’t make a quick decision how to handle such contract.”
“We have retained a legal adviser, but when we ask him a technical question, he takes a fair amount of time to do research and answer.”
Finding a local general corporate lawyer is difficult.
“In our city, few lawyers can handle international corporate affairs and IP practices. But, we don’t want to take time and cost to visit a competent lawyer in a big city.”
Why Choose "InnoReview"?
Reviews by lawyers specializing in general corporate law and IP.
By outsourcing contract reviews to a law firm specializing in corporate and IP practices, you can receive professional reviews of high accuracy without increasing staff members of the legal section. Thus, your present staff can concentrate on more significant cases and tasks.
Reviews of English contracts as well as Japanese one.
By contracting out the review of contracts in English, you can conduct business transactions with foreign companies free from anxiety, without a staff member who has experience in handling trans-border legal matters. We are going to expand this service to other foreign languages than English shortly.
Simple ordering with the exclusive e-mail account.
You can order for a contract review, at any time, by simply sending a request to an individual e-mail address set only for your company. You do not need to prepare written material for explanation and make an appointment with us.
Customized report to be incorporated into everyday workflow.
We will make a written report in a format designed according to your requirements (“Review Report”). You can use or incorporate such Review Report into your everyday workflow, without any effort.
Accurate and prompt review by the right lawyer.
Once received your order, we will assign an adequate lawyer who can work with your contract promptly, and a Review Report of high accuracy will be returned in a short time.
Flat fee advance payment without a need of fee estimate.
“InnoReview” is provided from a monthly flat fee of JPY 50,000 (plus tax) at minimum. We will inform you of the total number of units to be reviewed every time we receive your order for a new review. Thus, there is no need to obtain a fee estimate even if additional fee may occur.
Lump-sum advance payment option for multiple months.
The lump-sum payment of the monthly flat fees for three (3) months, six (6) months or one (1) year will make this service more cost-effective. You can control the total volume of contracts for review through such period and minimize overpaying the flat fee as well as defraying additional charges.
Available from anywhere and for a fixed period.
Since InnoReview is provided, in principle, through the exchange of e-mails, you can use the service anywhere in the country. The service is also available for a fixed period, one (1) month at a minimum. Thus, you can use this service on a temporary basis, for example, where one of your legal team suddenly quit the job.
Service provided in a cordial manner to meet your needs.
Even though the service is generally provided by e-mail, the lawyer in charge of your order will contact you, when necessary, to probe for your needs and review the contract on the side of your company in a cordial manner.
Details of "InnoReview"
Process for Execution
Contact us
If you want to know this service in more detail, please contact Innventier by e-mail (or telephone call). We will get back to you soon and provide a detailed explanation about “InnoReview.”
Execution of a service agreement for InnoReview
Once you are satisfied with our explanation about the service and contents of a service agreement for “InnoReview,” you will execute the agreement with Innoventier.
Assignment of an individual e-mail address to your company
Upon execution of the agreement, we will set an individual e-mail address only for your company, at which you will e-mail a contract for review.
Determination of a format of Review Report
To provide you with a Review Report, we will determine a format which is customized to your requirements. You can choose the appropriate form among from several templates, or we will modify or amend a form you already have.
Process of Provision of Service
Simple ordering for a contract review
You can order for our contract review by just transmitting an e-mail with an attachment of the contract at the e-mail address specified above. You can add to that e-mail specific requests for an expected reporting date or a lawyer who will work with your contract. But please understand that we may not meet your requests depending on the situation at that time. Where you had asked us to review any contract or documents related to your order, please refer to it in your e-mail. Any other relevant information and your concerns will be appreciated. We will check and keep them in our mind in reviewing the contract, as necessary.
Return e-mail about the number of Units and a scheduled reporting date
Once received your order by e-mail, we calculate the number of “Units” (to be defined below) contained in the contract and return an e-mail about such number together with a scheduled reporting date. “Unit” means a kind of scale of counting the volume of a contract for review, which determines the service ceiling covered by a price plan. For the detail, please refer to the “Fee Calculation” below. In principle, we intend to return a Review Report to you within three (3) business days following the date of receiving your order. However, we may need more days in some cases, for example, where the contract contains convoluted provisions, or it runs into many pages.
Contract review work
One (or more) lawyer(s) at Innventier will examine the document. In the review process, the lawyer will contact you and ask for clarification about the background of the contemplated transaction, etc., when necessary.
Review Report in the customized format
Once completed the review work, the lawyer will e-mail you his/her Review Report in the customized format. We are happy to answer any questions about the Review Report, without additional charges.
Fee Arrangement
InnoReview is provided with an advance payment of the monthly flat fee of JPY 50,000 (plus tax) at a minimum. Unless the total number of Units of contracts reviewed exceeds the service ceiling determined by a price plan or a payment option (to be described in detail below), no additional fees will be charged. Thus, you do not need to ask us for an estimate every time.
Various Price Plans
We have several types of price plans by the monthly fee as below. You can choose the most appropriate one according to your needs.
| Monthly fee (JPY) (plus tax): |
Rough standard of volume of contracts covered by the monthly fee |
| 50,000 |
1 or 2 Japanese contracts OR 1 simple English contract. |
| 80,000 |
2 or 3 Japanese contracts OR 1 English contract. |
| 100,000 |
3~5 Japanese contracts OR 1 or 2 English contracts. |
| 200,000 |
3~5 Japanese contracts AND 1 or 2 English contracts. |
| 300,000 |
8~10 Japanese or English contracts in total. |
| 500,000～ |
We recommend this plan to a corporate client that regularly handles a lot of contracts and wants to incorporate the professional contract review process into its workflow completely.We are happy to prepare a different price plan to meet your company’s needs.
| |
Lump-sum Payment Option
Where your company may not need InnoReview every month. In such case, the lump-sum advance payment option for three (3) months, six (6) months or one (1) year, instead of monthly payments, can be a cost-effective way. Specifically, if you are considering a contract for JPY 100,000 or below, the lump-sum payment will be more beneficial.
This option offers you the following advantages:
You can save legal costs
The maximum number of Units of contracts to be reviewed in one month (“Maximum Unit”) is added up over the period of the lump-sum payment option you choose. Therefore, even where your company does not ask for our services regularly every month, by using this option, you can minimize overpaying the monthly fee as well as defraying additional charges. Also, it will be easy for you to control the volume of your orders on, not monthly, but a longer-term basis. Thus, you can use this service more efficiently.
You can get extra number of Units
The longer term of a lump-sum option you choose, the more reviews you will receive in addition to the Maximum Units set by the price plan, as an incentive. Thus, you can use this service more cost-effectively.
Combination with "InnoCounsel"
InnoReview is a service specializing only in reviewing contracts. After receiving the review report, if you find the necessity to revise or amend the contract, or to receive further advice on the negotiation with the other party, then, we will be happy to move into such services seamlessly, with additional charges.
As to such additional services, please consider "InnoCounsel," Innoventier’s comprehensive legal advisory service.
Fee Calculation
Under "InnoReview", the volume of your order is measured based on the number of Units contained in each contract to be reviewed, regardless of language. Besides the monthly flat fee, no additional charges will be billed unless the total number of Units of contracts examined exceeds the Maximum Units determined by a price plan and a payment option you choose.
The usage of Units will be informed every time you request for a new review. Counting Units needs only a quick calculation as below. Thus, you can control the volume of your orders, and there is no need to ask us for an estimate for every order.
Also, if the usage of Units approaches or exceeds the Maximum Units, you can quickly calculate the rough amounts of additional charges in advance using the scale of counting below.
What is "Unit"?
"Unit" means a scale of counting the volume of a contract, regardless of language. At present, this scale applies to Japanese and English texts as below. We are going to expand this service to other languages shortly.
| Japanese |
1 Unit =180 characters |
| English |
1 Unit = 35 words |
Monthly fee and Maximum Units
The Maximum Units covered by the monthly fee depends on a price plan as below.
The more monthly fees you pay, the more Maximum Units you are entitled so that you can use this service more cost-effectively.
The below table shows the rough number of document pages covered by each price plan.
As to a price plan for the monthly fee of more than JPY 500,000, please contact us for inquiries.
Monthly fee (JPY)
(plus tax) |
50,000 |
80,000 |
100,000 |
200,000 |
300,000 |
500,000 |
| Maximum Units |
61 |
99 |
125 |
256 |
390 |
658 |
| Rough number of pages (Japanese) |
12.2 |
19.8 |
25.0 |
51.2 |
78.0 |
131.6 |
| Rough number of pages (English) |
6.1 |
9.9 |
12.5 |
25.6 |
39.0 |
65.8 |
＊The number of pages is computed on 900 characters/page for Japanese contract and 350 words/page for English contract.
Lump-sum payment option and Maximum Units
The Maximum Units for one month is added up through the period of the payment plan you choose. In addition to such aggregated Maximum Units, "Bonus Units" will be afforded; therefore, this option can be more cost-effective for you.
The below table shows the Maximum Units plus Bonus Units you are entitled where you choose a lump-sum payment option.
Monthly fee (JPY)
(plus tax) |
50,000 |
80,000 |
100,000 |
200,000 |
300,000 |
500,000 |
| Monthly payment |
61 |
99 |
125 |
256 |
390 |
658 |
Quarterly payment
(for 3 months) |
186 |
302 |
381 |
780 |
1,185 |
2,004 |
Semiyearly payment
(for 6 months) |
378 |
609 |
769 |
1,578 |
2,400 |
4,056 |
Yearly payment
(for 1 year) |
764 |
1,236 |
1,560 |
3,204 |
4,860 |
8,220 |
Additional charges
When the usage of Units in one month or during the specified period of a lump-sum option exceeds the Maximum Units (plus Bonus Units for a lump-sum option) as set forth above, JPY 980/Unit will be billed for the excess number of Units every month separately.
Important Notes
We have formulated InnoReview as a highly cost-effective and convenient tool for our clients. For such purpose, the scope of the service is limited to contract reviews only so that our quality lawyers specializing in corporate legal and intellectual property practices can provide the service at a very reasonable cost in a prompt manner. Therefore, we would like you to understand the following limitations will be applied when you use this service:
- Questions beyond the scope of Review Report. Answers to your questions about a Review Report are covered by a service agreement you signed. Any other answers to questions or inquiries beyond the scope of the Review Report and a revision or re-drafting of the contract will be charged separately. For such additional services, we recommend you consider "InnoCounsel," our comprehensive legal advisory service.
- Scheduled reporting date. A Review Report will usually be e-mailed to you within three (3) business days following the date of our receipt of your order. However, depending on the contents or volume of the contract, we may need more days, from five (5) to ten (10) business days.
- Lawyer in charge. After receiving your order, we will appoint an adequate lawyer at Innventier to review the contract in each case. The same lawyer will not always be assigned to your case.
- Subcontracting. To provide the service promptly, in some cases, we will subcontract a review work to an outside lawyer. In such a case, Innventier ensures that it appoints a competent lawyer with sufficient capability to provide this service and assumes the responsibility for the contents or level of his/her service.
- No refund. We will not refund or repay any fees once received, whether by monthly or a lump-sum payment, for any reasons, even in the case of cancellation of the service agreement.
- Additional charges for excess Units. Even where you choose a lump-sum payment option, if the usage of Units exceeds the Maximum Units (plus Bonus Units) set by the option, additional fees for the excess number of Units will be charged separately.
- No carry-over. The not-used and remaining number of the Maximum Units (plus Bonus Units) in a certain month or period cannot be carried over to the following month or period.
- Legal matters under foreign laws. InnoReview covers legal affairs under Japanese laws only. Where a contract is governed by laws of a foreign country or territory, and if you have any concerns about legal matters under such law, please let us know. We will be happy to do the necessary research and report it to you with additional fees.
- Data format. We hope to receive a contract for review in a data format readable by MS Word. When we receive a contract in the pdf file that does not contain text information, we need to convert it to the text information by using a character recognition system and calculate the number of Units. In that case, there might be some errors in counting the number of Units.
