Law: Trademark Act 1959 (Japan)

While the JPO admitted that COCO had a high degree of reputation as a source indicator of Chanel’s perfumes, it questioned the mark’s renown in relation to other cosmetics.

01 February 2024

While the JPO recognised that ELLE had become famous as a source indicator in connection with fashion magazines, it questioned whether the mark had acquired a certain degree of recognition in relation to Class 43 services.

25 January 2024

The JPO notably found that it had not been proven that there was a high degree of recognition of Hilton’s mark LXR HOTELS & RESORTS among the relevant consumers in Japan. 

18 January 2024

Renowned French pastry chef Pierre Hermé failed in his attempt to prevent the registration of HOUSE OF HERME for services in Classes 35 and 43.

12 January 2024

We continue our series highlighting recent Legal Updates that you may have missed by looking at success stories in the food and beverage sector - with three of the four cases reviewed involving GIs for alcoholic beverages.

10 January 2024

Each quarter WTR runs a series of pieces highlighting recent Legal Updates that you may have missed. To kick off the latest series, we look at cases where rights holders in various industries have attempted to register or defend their non-traditional trademarks.

08 January 2024

In a surprising decision, the JPO’s Appeal Board has reversed the refusal of the mark ADEAM ICHI, finding that it was dissimilar to earlier registrations for the mark ICHI.

08 January 2024

The JPO Appeal Board has reversed the rejection of the mark BENJAMIN BROWN in Classes 25 and 28, finding that it was not identical to the full name of a living person named Benjamin Brown.

02 January 2024

A key finding was that the marks were dissimilar visually and phonetically due to the presence of the element ‘+’ in the mark applied for.

08 December 2023

In a blow to Kubota Corporation, the JPO found that several colour marks consisting of the colour orange and of a combination of orange, black and white lacked inherent and acquired distinctiveness.

01 December 2023