Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Article information Article type: Publication review Categories: Other foreign jurisdictions Topics: Well-known and famous marks, Confusion First published on this website: 2026-10-16 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-19 [Article / Austrian Trademarks] Protection of well-known trademarks and unfair use through packaging imitation: Lessons from the Jägermeister case (遠藤華英, Patent, November 2025) A judgment of the Austrian Supreme Court

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Article information Article type: Publication review Categories: Unfair competition law Topics: Indications of goods or business, Confusion First published on this website: 2026-10-16 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-17 [Article / Unfair Competition Prevention Act, Article 2(1)(i)] Protection of product packaging consisting of weakly distinctive elements — Suntory Black Oolong Tea case (Yukari Hira, Intellectual Property Law and

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Unfair competition law Topics: Indications of goods or business, Confusion First published on this website: 2026-10-16 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-17 Case information: Heisei 31 (Ne) No. 10002 [Unfair competition] IP High Court, Heisei 31 (Ne) No. 10002 (Judge Otaka) A violation of Article 2(1)(i) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act was found for products whose cus

日本語版を読む / Japanese version Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Similarity of trademarks, Distinctiveness, Confusion, Abuse of rights, Patent corrections First published on this website: October 2, 2026 Case number (as stated in the source): Osaka District Court, Reiwa 6 (Wa) 5007 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks] Osaka District Court, Reiwa 6 (Wa) 5007, “Awa koi ichigo” <Presiding Judge Matsukawa> Trademark at issue:

1. The core of Japan's consent system: A reserved-consent system Unlike many other countries, Japan uses a reserved-consent system. ⇒ Consent from the cited trademark's proprietor alone does not secure registration. Registration under Trademark Act Article 4(4) is allowed only if the JPO ultimately finds no likelihood of confusion as to source.

⇒ Similar (separate assessment of figurative and word elements permitted) (1) Similarity of the marks

Invalidation not established (Trademark Act Article 4(1)(x), (xv)) Well-known status of the cited “SCANTEC” mark: Not established (1) Domestic market share

1. Interpreting “confusion in the broad sense” Item (i) includes both narrow confusion (mistaken belief in identical source) and broad confusion (mistaken belief in a relationship between sources). Since item (ii) was created, regulation of dilution/free riding without confusion should be left to item (ii), while confusion under item (i) should be assessed concretely and substantively.