Trademarks
The JPO adopts the 10th Edition of Nice Classification (January 19, 2012)
The Japan Patent Office has decided to adopt the 10th Edition of the International Classification of the Nice Agreement from January 1, 2012. Accordingly, the Examination Guideline of Similar Goods and Services issued by the Japan Patent Office has also been revised. The primary changes are as follows: (1) Changes of the classes 【Class 5】 [...]
General Requirements (April 1, 2011)
The applicant must submit to the Patent Office directly or by mail an application for trademark registration having the following requirements: 1. The applicant’s full name, address and nationality. 2. Details of the mark. If the mark consists of only plain block letters in English or Japanese characters, drawings are not necessary. However, if the [...]
MADRID PROTOCOL: Responding to the Notification of the Provisional Refusal (March 26, 2011)
Deadline for Response You are given Three-Months (3-months) from the date of pronouncement with a possibility for a one-month extension (1-month) to respond to the refusal. Example: Date of Pronouncement Deadline One-Month Extension October 1 January 1 February 1 October 31 January 31 February 28 *Note: If the deadline falls on a weekend or a [...]
Revisions in the Trademark Examination Guidelines for Registering Famous People’s Names as Trademarks (June 22, 2010)
by Yoshiko Osawa, International Trademark SpecialistIn October 2009, the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) revised the trademark examination guidelines to add a section on the handling of trademarks which use names of historical figures. In the past, the Japanese Trademark Law had no provisions forbidding the adoption of deceased person’s name as a trademark, let alone [...]
“Darjeeling Tea”- One of Four Foreign GIs Registered Under the Amended Trademark Law (April 2, 2009)
Three Years after the Regional Collective Trademark Law went into effect, the system is still not well known among foreign business associations. The Japan Patent Office announced in February, 2009, that 873 regional marks were registered since the law went into force in 2006, and only four of them were regional brand names from foreign [...]
New Guidelines for an Accelerated Examination System for Trademarks Effective February 1, 2009 (January 19, 2009)
Introduction The Japan Patent Office has put into effect new guidelines for the accelerated examination systems for trademarks. The JPO introduced the system for trademarks back in September of 1997 and was implemented in order to speed up the registration procedure for applications that urgently needed acceptance due to third party infringements. Under the original [...]
Retail and Wholesale Services Will Be Able to Register Their Service Mark In Japan Effective April 1, 2007 (February 21, 2007)
A revision in Japanese Trademark Law that passed the Diet in June 2006 will go into force in April 1, 2007. The new law will allow retail and wholesale service marks to be registered for the first time in Japan under International Class 35. The three months from the effective date will comprise a transitional [...]