[Trademarks] Reiwa 7 (Ne) 10068, “2ch” (Presiding Judge 森冨)
更新日：4 時間前
Article information
Categories: Trademarks
Topics: Trademark use / Similarity of trademarks
Published on this website: 2026-09-29
[Trademarks] Reiwa 7 (Ne) 10068, “2ch” (Presiding Judge 森冨)
(First instance: Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 6 (Wa) 70003)
The first-instance judgment (Tokyo District Court) that Internet forwarding settings and an on-screen video display did not infringe the “2ch” trademark was upheld.
The appellate court upheld the finding that entering a domain name on the DNS forwarding-function settings screen does not constitute “use” of a mark under Trademark Act Article 2(3)(viii). Configuring the Internet domain name system (DNS) is a technical system-setting act, not an act directly seen by consumers, and therefore is not “use” under trademark law.
The argument presupposes that the video displays the plaintiff’s “2ch” mark. However, the video first shows “2” and an animal character; the character approaches “2” and kicks it apart, whereupon “5” replaces “2,” and a small flag marked “CH” appears. In appearance, pronunciation (“go-shī-eichi” or “go-channeru”), and concept (“5channel, not 2 [Loki’s bulletin board]”), the video cannot be regarded as either identical or similar to the plaintiff’s “2ch” mark.
Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7510494434782887936/
