Newsletter (No.25) August 2022
This Newsletter summarizes legal information updated in the latest one month.
*PATENT
*TRADEMARK
【Trademark Act ★】A Case in which the Intellectual Property High Court partially rescinded a decision made by the Japanese Patent Office (the “JPO Decision”), which partially maintained a request for a trial for trademark invalidation, on the ground that the registered trademark which consists of words “Scrum Master” written horizontally in standard characters is a necessary and appropriate indication for the transaction as describing the quality of the designated services such as “teaching of art, sports or knowledge, education and training, planning, operation or conducting of qualifying examination, planning, operation or holding of seminars” in Class 41 and is generally recognized as indicating the quality of services when used for such designated services by traders and consumers and therefore falls under Article 3, para.1, item 3 of the Trademark Act.
In recent years, the import of counterfeit goods for personal use has been increasing along with the development of cross-border e-commerce via the internet and international parcel post. In order to strengthen regulations on the import of counterfeit goods for personal use, the Trademark Act and Design Act were amended in 2021 (Act No. 42), and the act of bringing counterfeit goods into Japan by mail etc. from overseas businesses was deemed to be an infringement of trademark rights and/or design rights. In addition, under the 2022 amendment of the Customs Act (Act No. 5), counterfeit goods which infringe trademark rights and/or design rights brought into Japan by mail or other means from overseas businesses addressed to non-business entities in Japan are now subject to border control by the Japan Customs. The above amended acts will come into effect as of October 1, 2022.
*DESIGN
Simple introduction for many cases.
Hideki Takaishi (Attorney at Law & Patent Attorney) (Publishing Manager)
Nakamura & Partners
Room No. 616, Shin-Tokyo Building, 3-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku,
*The content of this newsletter provides general information and is not legal advice.
*Nakamura & Partners was founded in 1914 and provides comprehensive IP-related services both domestically and internationally as an international IP law firm.