14.09.2007
JPO: No Asahi Trademark “INA BAUER” For Alcoholic Beverages In Japan
The JPO rejected an attempted registration of the wordmark “INA BAUER” for alcoholic beverages filed by Asahi Breweries, Ltd. (application numer 2006-19029).
Ina Bauer is a (retired) German figure skater of the 1950s who invented the skating element named after her (the “Ina Bauer step”). This skating element became very famous in Japan when the Japanese skater Shizuka Arakawa won the gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin with her trademark interpretation of the Ina Bauer step being a central element of her program (Arakawa is famous for doing a complete backbend while performing the step).
Asahi filed the application shortly after the Olympic Games in March 2006 without any particular idea which alcohol beverage would bear the mark. However, the application was rejected because the skating technique was named after the inventor, and taking advantage of its recent fame through a trademark registration was considered contrary to good faith: “Such behavior to capitalize on the fame of Ms. Arakawa would offend public order and morals,” an official from the Patent Office said, adding that the brewery has not received approval from Ina Bauer.
On a side note, the term “ina bauer”, transliterated into a single Japanese word “inabauâ” (イナバウアー), became a popular buzzword for “bending over backwards“ in Japanese and actually won an award for the most popular neologism of 2006. Whatever one might think about Asahi’s trademark application, at least they showed a good feeling for trends.
Keywords for this post:
Japan, Japanese Patent Office, Japanisches Patentamt, JPO, Marken, Markenanmeldungen Japan, trademark applications, trademarks
