28.05.2008
Posted in Patent Offices, Trademarks, Statistics, Japan at 19:38 pm by TMSJ
The JPO has released updated statistical data about applications and registrations of intellectual property rights in Japan.
Looking at trademarks, one can see that the number of applications has been steadily increasing over the last ten years (with the exceptions of a sharp downturn in the years 2001 and 2002). In 2007, 143,221 trademark applications were filed (2006: 135,777). The increase of trademark applications could be a result of recent changes in Japanese trademark regulations: Starting from 2007, retail marks have been introduced into the Japanese trademark system. This had probably led many trademark owners to file additional trademarks for retail services in class 35.
The data indicates a slight decrease of trademark registrations (96,531 in 2007, compared to 103,435 in the preceding year), albeit the number is still higher than it was in 2005 with 94,439 registrations.
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14.09.2007
Posted in Trademarks, Courts and Cases, Japan at 21:27 pm by TMSJ
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.
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