20.08.2008
Japan: Tuna and IP Law
Osakana Planning Company caused quite a stir at the International Japan Seafood Show: Japanese tuna can now expect something new – an acupuncture treatment. “The Australian” reports that the company had even obtained a patent on this technique.
Toshiro Urabe, the president of the Osakana Planning Company named better taste and less dependence on chemical preservaties as the main advantages of tuna which had been treated with the famous needles.
It is still a secret where to put the needles. We were not able to obtain a copy of the patent or patent application.
As sashimi (raw fish) is very popular in Japan, it was to be expected that the Intellectual Property High Court had to deal with tuna as well, sooner or later. The court recently dismissed an appeal of a food import company, which had filed a patent application “method for processing tuna meat for preservation” which uses the carbon monoxide gas in certain kinds of smoke to preserve the tuna meat. The application was dismissed by the JPO stating there was prior art for using CO gas for processing tuna meat for preservation. The court did not follow the plaintiff’s argument that there was a difference between CO gas contained in the smoke and pure CO gas used for conservation.
The court also briefly touched the question whether this method would possibly offend public order under food sanitation laws (possibly due to the fact that tuna treated with CO gas keeps its “fresh” color longer). The anwer was left open, but one thing is clear: Matters of Tuna are not to be taken lightly in Japan.
