Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

[AFURI / Afuri] (Presiding Judge Hasegawa) ⇒ Similar (violation of Article 4(1)(xi) of the Trademark Act). (1) Similarity of concept:

Applied-for trademark: "タイロン" (figurative mark) Cited trademark: "TYRONE" ⇒ Not similar

[Kirin Foods] (Presiding Judge Nakadaira) Falls under Article 4(1)(xi) of the Trademark Act. ⇒ Invalid. <1> Separate observation of the figurative and textual portions

Trademark at issue: "HIKKY" (standard characters) Cited trademarks: "HIKKI," etc. ⇒ Not similar

"AFURI / 阿夫利" (Presiding Judge Hasegawa) The plaintiff (AFURI) had brought a trademark infringement action concerning the sake "雨降 (Afuri)" sold by the defendant (Yoshikawa Jozo). The defendant (Yoshikawa Jozo) requested a trial for invalidation of the plaintiff's "AFURI / 阿夫利" trademark in the alcoholic beverages field, asserting similarity to the cited trademark "阿夫利大山."

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Trademarks Topics: Similarity of trademarks First published on this site: 2023-12-16 Case number: Heisei 28 (Gyo-Ke) 10164 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 [Trademark] Heisei 28 (Gyo-Ke) 10164 Trademark at issue: Genkotsu Menchi Cited mark: Genkotsu ⇒ Dissimilar; cannot be separated. The word menchi is not particularly widespread as a noun meaning menchi-katsu (minced-meat cutlet).

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Trademarks Topics: Similarity of trademarks First published on this site: 2023-12-09 Case number: Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ke) 10063 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 [Trademark] Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ke) 10063 <Miyasaka>, the VENTURE case — Composite marks Separation is permitted ‘... (1) ... (2) ... (3) where, in light of the appearance, etc. of the trademark, the mark as a whole has little structural unit