Court: Intellectual Property High Court (Japan)

Legal Updates you may have missed: fashion and luxury courtroom defeats

The third instalment in our series highlighting Legal Updates you may have missed asks what we can learn from recent trademark defeats for Kurt Geiger, Hermès, Timberland and Vans.

16 July 2024

IP High Court rejects registration of Audemars Piguet’s ‘Royal Oak’ watch design

The court confirmed that a device mark representing the Swiss luxury watchmaker’s iconic ‘Royal Oak’ watch lacked both inherent and acquired distinctiveness.

20 May 2024

IP High Court upholds refusal to register colours of Hermès packaging

The court notably found that the market research surveys submitted by Hermès were insufficient to demonstrate the acquired distinctiveness of the mark among the general public.

03 May 2024