Newsletter (No.44) January 2025

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We are now introducing practical legal information on our homepage which especially focuses on Court Decisions related to IP rights.

http://www.nakapat.gr.jp/en/legal_updates_eng/

This Newsletter summarizes legal information updated in the latest one month.

*PATENT

*TRADEMARK

【Trademark act★】A case in which, with respect to a trademark determined to fall under Article 3,paragraph (1), item (iii) of the Trademark Act in the initial decision of refusal but subsequently determined to fall under item (vi) of the same paragraph in a trial decision, the court held that, although a separate notice of grounds for refusal under Article 55-2, paragraph (1) and Article 15-2 of the same Act was required as a general rule, and the trial proceedings not complying with this procedural requirement contain a defect (a violation of the law), such defect is not a ground for rescission as it is not found to affect the result of the trial decision. A case in which the court found that the trademark, “奇跡のラカンカ (kiseki-no rakanka),” written in horizontal direction (the “Trademark”), falls under Article 3, paragraph (1), item (vi) of the Trademark Act for “confectionery flavored with siraitia (other than fruit-based, vegetable-based, bean-based or nut-based)” etc. in Class 30 and the decision to maintain the trial decision is finalized.

April 24, 2024 Case number : 2023 (Gyo-Ke) 10109 Presiding judge: Masatoshi MIYASAKA

【Trademark Act★】 A case in which the Intellectual Property High Court determined that the registered trademark, which the Defendant owns, for the designated goods of class 30 “Gummi Candy” and indicating the Japanese characters “地球グミ” [chikyu gumi] in standard characters falls under Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 10 of the Trademark Act, holding that the term “地球グミ” of the cited mark is widely recognized among consumers of gummi candies, including young people, as indicating the gummi candies “Trolli”, “Planet Gummi” or “Blue Planet” related to the business of the Plaintiff, who is an importer and distributor in Japan, or of the foreign manufacturer, by the date of the examination decision at the latest (February 22, 2022), and that there were no arguments or evidence that the trademark fell under the same item as of December 16, 2021, the filing date of the application (Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Trademark Act), and rescinded a JPO decision that dismissed the request for a trial for invalidation of a trademark registration.

Intellectual Property High Court Decision of December 26, 2023 (Case No. 10079 [Gyo-ke] 2023―Presiding Judge Shimizu) 

*DESIGN

Simple introduction for many cases.

*Unfair Competition Prevention ACT