[Article/Trademark] The Meaning of “Goods” under the Trademark Act (Takuya Ueda, Theory and Practice of Intellectual Property Law, Vol. 3)
Updated: 6 hours ago
Article information
Article type: Publication review
Category: Trademarks
Topics: —
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2025-05-21 (Japan time). Full English translation.
[Article/Trademark] The Meaning of “Goods” under the Trademark Act (Takuya Ueda, Theory and Practice of Intellectual Property Law, Vol. 3)
*Novelty and promotional items
T-shirts in the BOSS case (Osaka District Court, August 26, 1987): if an article is not an independent product in itself but merely packaging or an advertising medium for another product, it is not “goods” under the Trademark Act.
= Ballpoint pens in the Hertz Rent-a-Car case (Tokyo High Court, February 27, 2001)
= Origami paper in the Takeda Pharmaceutical case (Tokyo High Court, November 7, 1989)
*Pamphlets and admission tickets
The Shumi no Kai case (Tokyo District Court, March 2, 1961) and Mokuba Kikaku case (Yokohama District Court, Kawasaki Branch, April 28, 1988) held that pamphlets and admission tickets were not printed matter and therefore were not “goods” under the Trademark Act.
*Decisions are divided on whether food and beverages served inside an establishment constitute “goods.”
Chunagon case (Osaka District Court, December 25, 1986): trademark infringement rejected
Koraku case (Hiroshima High Court, Okayama Branch, June 18, 1986): trademark infringement affirmed
*Real estate: Village Hakusan case (Tokyo High Court, September 28, 2000): condominium units for sale were held to be “goods,” and trademark infringement was affirmed.
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The first-published date remains unchanged. Display maintenance, classification changes, related-article updates, and text corrections are recorded separately.
November 1, 2026: First published on this website.
November 2, 2026: Added article information, classification, topics, language navigation, related articles where the same case was confirmed, consultation guidance, and SEO. The original text and first-published date were preserved.
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