Organisation: Asahi

How one Japanese IP lawyer is meeting gender challenges head on

Survey reveals that most female lawyers in Japan experience negative consequences on career due to childbirth and childcare

08 March 2023

Headlines suggest Toyota is shying away from Olympics, but reality is very different

In this week’s opinion column, we reflect on the news that Toyota is scaling back its promotional activity around the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

24 July 2021

Communication, CSR and canny digital presence help Corona retain title of ‘most valuable beer brand’

The newly published Brand Finance Alcoholic Drinks 2021 report reveals that the total value of the world’s top 50 most valuable beer brands has declined by 16%, from $94.9 billion to $80.2 billion, over the past year.

09 June 2021

Asahi’s acquisition of Fuller’s shows value of brands in overseas expansion

This Japanese company's purchase is only one of a number of deals in the industry, with key players bolstering their premium beer portfolios.

01 February 2019

General Court: imperfect recollection of earlier mark imputes likelihood of confusion, even for specialised and highly attentive public

In Asahi Intec Co Ltd v EUIPO, the EU General Court has held that, although the specialist public would pay a high level of attention to the marks, the doctrine of imperfect recollection meant that a risk of a likelihood of confusion could not be ruled out.

29 November 2018

Can you register a parody trademark?

The registrant in a recent case registered the trademark FRANCK MIURA in Japanese katakana and Chinese characters with regard to its lookalikes of Franck Muller's well-known luxury watches. However, the design similarities were not at issue in this case. Rather, the case centred on the similarity of, and the likelihood of confusion between, the trademark and three prior FRANCK MULLER marks.

20 June 2017

Japan’s top trademark filer hits headlines as government seeks to rein in squatting problem

Japan’s Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry has called for measures to combat the activities of ‘IP trolls’, including trademark squatting – an issue that is attracting increased attention in the country.

30 September 2016

IP High Court rejects non-use cancellation action for EUROPEAN mark

The IP High Court has upheld the Japan Patent Office trial decision that rejected the non-use cancellation action sought against the registration for the trademark EUROPEAN (in Japanese katakana) with respect to the designated goods "coffee and cocoa, coffee beans" in Class 30.

07 March 2016

Imitation of product configuration held to constitute act of unfair competition

In a case involving two rival clothing companies, the Tokyo District Court has held that the defendant's sale of ladies' apparel with a similar configuration as that of the plaintiff constituted an act of unfair competition under Article 2(1)(3) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Law. The court ordered the defendant to pay compensation to the plaintiff under Article 4, but refused to order the defendant to advertise an apology under Article 14.

04 January 2016

IP High Court rejects action for cancellation of footwear trademark

The IP High Court has upheld a decision rejecting an action for the cancellation of the mark SENTCOMEX for clothing and footwear, holding that the defendant's use of its SENT COMEX marks did not cause confusion with the plaintiff's COMEX shoes. Among other things, the court found that, although there was a space between 'SENT' and 'COMEX' in the marks used by the defendant, they were the same in practice as the registered SENTCOMEX mark.

28 October 2015