[Trademarks] IP High Court, Reiwa 6 (Gyo-Ke) 10098, “Health and Productivity Management EXPO” (健康経営EXPO) (Presiding Judge Honda)

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Article information

Article type: Case note

Display and classification checked: 2026-09-30

Categories: Trademarks

Topics: Distinctiveness

Published on this website: 2026-09-29

[Trademarks] IP High Court, Reiwa 6 (Gyo-Ke) 10098, “Health and Productivity Management EXPO” (健康経営EXPO) (Presiding Judge Honda)

Falls under Trademark Act Article 3(1)(iii) → Refusal

“Health and productivity management” (健康経営) is a dictionary-listed compound meaning “a management approach that maintains and improves the health of people working in a company and enhances organizational soundness.” (Translation of the quoted definition.)

“EXPO” is an English word meaning a world exposition or exhibition; its katakana reading, “ekisupo,” is also listed in Japanese dictionaries.

Actual trade circumstances

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry continuously implements measures promoting health and productivity management.

Exhibitions, seminars, forums and similar events on that theme have been held a considerable number of times.

Many events use “___ EXPO” with the subject placed at the beginning.

https://lnkd.in/gdJqnf7n

https://lnkd.in/gcakNYKC

hanrei-pdf-94069.pdf — courts.go.jp

Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7510498846653779968/

Related articles and decisions

Shared topic: Distinctiveness — [Article / Trademarks] Similarity of composite marks containing place names for the service “providing food and drink” (Shoji Nakamura, Patent, March 2024)

Shared topic: Distinctiveness — [Trademark Act, Article 3(1)(iii)] IP High Court, Case No. 2025 (Gyo-ke) 10070

Shared topic: Distinctiveness — [Trademark] IP High Court, Case No. 2025 (Gyo-ke) 10072

Updates and corrections

This log starts on 30 September 2026. Display and classification checks are distinct from a review of the legal analysis.

2026-09-30 — Presentation update: added the article type, this change log and a link to consultation options. The existing article text was preserved.

2026-10-01 | Name notation: replaced verified Japanese-script personal names with Roman-letter forms in this English article and its navigation. Legal analysis and original publication date unchanged.

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