The Japanese Trademark Act stipulates that a trademark must contain distinctive features for its registration.  Distinctiveness means that a certain trademark distinguishes the applicant’s goods or services from those of others.  This article discusses an appeal against a JPO (Japanese Patent Office

Meiji, a subsidiary of a major Japanese food company, Meiji Holdings, announced that they exercised their 3D trademark right of “Kinokonoyama” against its similar products produced by a confectionary company for the first time. The company terminated the production and sales of its products because

Japan’s Ministry of Finance disclosed statistics showing that the number of cases suspending imports of goods infringing intellectual property at Customs marked 18,153 cases during the first half of 2024, a 16.2% increase from the previous year hitting a record high number.  This spike reflected the

Introduction of Letters of ConsentIf an applied-for trademark is identical with or similar to prior marks and designates goods/services identical with or similar to goods/services designated in the prior marks, the applied-for trademark will be rejected. Because letters of consent were not acceptabl

i. A consent letter system is introduced (effective April 1, 2024)The Revised Trademark Act, which includes a consent letter system, came into effect on April 1, 2024. If an applied-for trademark is identical or similar to an earlier registered trademark and its designated goods or services are iden

The Intellectual Property High Court (IPHC) judged on July 19, 2023 that a trademark registration of “GUZZILLA” (Japanese Trademark Registration No. 6143667, as shown below) owned by a Japanese construction machinery component manufacturer, Taguchi Industrial Co. Ltd. (Appellant), could cause confus

Key NumbersThe number of patent applications slightly declined while the numbers of requests for examination and registrations remain unchanged.The number and ratio of patent applications from foreign countries are as follows.The number of requests for appeal against an Examiner’s decision of refusa

According to the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), the amount of annual damage caused by online piracy of Japanese manga, anime, games, etc. has reached two trillion JPY. This is a five times increase from the 2019 survey, revealing the reality of rapidly expanding damages.In recent

In this Issue- Music School Student Performances Not Subject to Copyright Fees- Customs Act Prohibits Import of Private Use Counterfeit Products- Japanese Car Makers Enter Connected Car License Agreement- Panasonic First in Japan to Join Low-Carbon Patent Pledge- Infringement Found in Action via Ove

In this Issue- Establishment of Guidelines for License Negotiations for Standard Essential Patents- New Guidelines for Co-Ownership of Patents- WIPO Report: Toyota has Most Active Patents related to Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Transportation- JPO Studying Easing of Registration Requirements of Name Trade

In this Issue- Three Signature Patterns of Costumes in “Demon Slayer” Registered as Trademarks in Japan- Patent Litigation over Smartphone Game Reaches Settlement for 29 Million Dollars (Nintendo vs. Colopl)- Release of Case Examples of Design Registrations of Related Designs Pertaining to “Partial

In this Issue- Former Softbank Employee Arrested for Leaking Trade Secrets- Interior/Exterior Design of Buildings to be Protected as Designs- Recent Trends in Quantum Cryptography - Toshiba Venturing into the Field- Abolishment of Handwritten-Signature Requirements for Procedures at the JPO