Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

日本語原文 / Japanese original Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Distinctiveness First published on this website: 2026-11-01 Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026 Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-08-13 (Japan time). Full English translation. https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12863479337.html [Trademark] 2023 (Gyo-Ke) 10095 <Miyasaka> *Hermès' Orange Box — Trademark Act Article 3(2) not applicable A trademark for a pac

日本語原文 / Japanese original Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks, Unfair competition law Topics: Distinctiveness, Confusion First published on this website: 2026-11-01 Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026 Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-08-22 (Japan time). Full English translation. https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12864549172.html [Unfair Competition Prevention Act j] 2023 (Ne) 10048 “Dr. Martens” <Miyasaka> (1) Yellow we

日本語原文 / Japanese original Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: — First published on this website: 2026-11-01 Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026 Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-08-22 (Japan time). Full English translation. https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12864549043.html [Trademark] 2021 (Gyo-Ke) 10028 <Honda> Mark at issue: “Hirudo Mild” Cited mark: “Hirudoid” “Hirudo” is coined; “Mild” has low distinguishi

日本語原文 / Japanese original Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: — First published on this website: 2026-11-01 Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026 Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-08-03 (Japan time). Full English translation. https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12862350768.html [Trademark] Osaka District Court, 2020 (Wa) 7918 <Takemiya> Estoppel precludes infringement claims against goods identical or similar to robo

日本語原文 / Japanese original Article information Article type: Case note Category: United States, Trademarks Topics: — First published on this website: 2026-11-01 Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026 Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-07-08 (Japan time). Full English translation. https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12859099740.html [U.S./Trademark] Supreme Court No. 12-761, POM v. COCA-COLA (June 12, 2014) A false-advertising action under the Lanham Act is

日本語原文 / Japanese original Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks, Unfair competition law Topics: Well-known and famous marks, Indications of goods or business First published on this website: 2026-11-01 Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026 Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-07-01 (Japan time). Full English translation. https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12858278614.html “Dr. Martens' Yellow Stitching” [Trademark] 2023 (Gyo-Ke)

Applied-for trademark: “AONO” Does not fall under Article 3(1)(iv). The surname “Aono” (青野) ranks 797th or 849th, with 20,000 people and 6,000 households. ⇒ Nationwide, the number cannot be regarded as particularly large. https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/laws/rule/guideline/trademark

* Article 3(2) applied to the three-dimensional trademark for a Shin Godzilla figurine. (Excerpts from the decision) The three-dimensional shape of Shin Godzilla differs in overall proportions from earlier Godzilla characters: the head is smaller, the thinness of the forelimbs (a

* No abuse of rights. Ultimately, the defendant nonprofit organization’s failure to register the trademark was the reason it lost. As a member of the “Gendai no Riron Editorial Committee,” the plaintiff has published an electronic edition of “Gendai no Riron” since 2014. The defe

The trademark at issue: “美容医局” (Biyō Ikyoku; designated services: employment placement and others). The relevant consumers are “physicians in cosmetic surgery or cosmetic dermatology.” Physicians with no possibility of changing jobs to cosmetic surgery or cosmetic dermatology are