On January 31, 2012, the IP High Court of Japan delivered a groundbreaking appellate decision concerning the registrability of a trademark.
On January 31, 2012, the IP High Court of Japan delivered a groundbreaking appellate decision concerning the registrability of a trademark in a lawsuit seeking to reverse a decision of an appeal trial board of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) rejecting a trademark application.
The appeal to the IP High Court against the JPO was conducted by our firm on behalf of a client, Shiraken Kamaboko Co Ltd.
Shiraken Kamaboko had filed with the JPO an application to register the mark ‘海葉’, which comprises two Chinese characters, designating kamaboko (boiled fish-paste). The JPO examiner decided to reject the trademark application on the grounds that the applied-for trademark is similar to the prior registered trademark ‘海陽’, which also comprises two Chinese characters, and the designated goods of the applied-for trademark are identical to those of the cited trademark.
The rest of this article is locked for subscribers only. Please login to continue reading.
If you don't have a login, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content. Please use this link and follow the steps.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription to us that we can add you to for FREE, please email Atif Choudhury at achoudhury@worldipreview.com
similar trademarks, Shiraken Kamaboko, JPO, TANTO