Trademark trouble consultation

Cool Japan

Necessity of overseas trademark application

Japan is attracting increasing attention around the world in various fields such as traditional Japanese culture, Japanese cuisine, which was recently registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, digital content such as manga/anime, games, J-POP, and fashion. .

Public and private initiatives have begun in order to strategically expand this world-famous ``Japanese brand'' overseas as ``Cool Japan.'' Overseas Demand Development Support Corporation (commonly known as Cool Japan Promotion Organization), a public-private fund http://www.cj-fund.co.jp/) is expected to play a leading role in the Cool Japan strategy.

Cool Japan Content and Trademarks

character

Many attractive characters that appear in manga...In recent years, goods that use images of popular Japanese characters without permission, as well as pirated copies of the original manga and anime, have been sold overseas, causing serious damage. It's causing it.

Things that represent a character include the character's appearance, name, and the name of the work in which it appears, but by registering the appearance, name, and name of the work in which the character appears as a trademark, you can protect the character from infringement to a certain extent. It is possible to prevent this. However, please note that character names and work names may not be registered as trademarks. For details, see industry-specific content.To everyone in the book and magazine industry'

Game

Registering the name of game software as a trademark is also extremely important in order to protect the rights to the game software itself and the goods derived from it. Even though we were trying to release the game all at once all over the world, the name of the game was already registered as a trademark in a certain country, so we were unable to release it...especially when it comes to popular games that have global releases or numbering. You may need to be careful. Game software currently comes in a wide variety of forms, including home-use stationary game consoles, game center cabinets, download-only games, and social games for smartphones, and these forms are closely related to the scope of rights when registering trademarks. It will come. For details, see industry-specific content.To everyone in the game software industry'

J-POP

The worldview of pop music and idol groups, which are depicted with a uniquely Japanese sensibility, are also one of the pillars of the Cool Japan Strategy. For these artists, it is important to protect their rights as they develop merchandise and expand internationally. For details, see industry-specific content.To everyone in the music industry'

Japanese

Japanese food was registered as a world intangible heritage in 2013, and has become well-known overseas. Speaking of SUSHI, TENPRA, and SOBA, they have become synonymous with Japanese cuisine that is widely used overseas. Many brands of Japanese food, which is popular outside of Japan, are being expanded overseas.

(1) Ingredients

Even though it is generally called "Japanese food," there are many different classifications. For example, buckwheat flour, buckwheat noodles, and buckwheat soup are all used in SOBA, but each is a different food. By designating each such food as a product, proper protection can be achieved. For details, see industry-specific content.To everyone in the food industry '

(2) Restaurants

There are also an increasing number of cases in which popular Japanese stores are expanding overseas. A store signboard is an important brand that represents the store, and protection is important when expanding overseas. Furthermore, even if you do not expand your business overseas, there may be cases where a third party uses the same or similar signboards overseas without permission. In order to prevent such situations from occurring, it is important to register trademarks overseas defensively. For details, see industry-specific content.To everyone in the food and beverage industry '

(3) Variety

Additionally, one of the important elements that supports Japanese cuisine is the presence of domestically produced varieties. For varieties, it is possible to protect the right to grow and sell the seeds by registering the variety separately, but by registering the brand name of the variety as a trademark, inferior imitations can deceive the same brand name, and the brand name It is also possible to prevent the value from decreasing. However, please note that the name used when registering a variety cannot be registered as a trademark by specifying a product that refers to the plant itself. For details, see industry-specific content.To everyone in the agricultural industry'

Cool Japan and counterfeit and pirated goods

In order to further promote the Japan brand in the fields of digital content (anime, games, J-POP, etc.), manga, and fashion, which are the core of the Cool Japan strategy, the amount of damage will amount to hundreds of billions of yen annually. There is an urgent need to take even greater measures to combat counterfeit and pirated products.

Much of the damage caused by counterfeit products is said to be trademark infringement, and this is a familiar and serious problem, such as the arrest of illegal manga and anime goods. These counterfeit products and pirated copies not only reduce the profits of legitimate rights holders, but also lead to damage to trust due to the spread of inferior products, and there is a risk that they may give the work a bad image. For details, please refer to "Trademark Consultation"Are you fully prepared for counterfeit products?'

HARAKENZOmore supports the development of Cool Japan content

If we have excellent content or products that can be presented to the world as a "Japanese brand," we need to properly protect them from all sides.
At our firm, we will do our best to support this excellent content and product from the perspective of trademarks. We welcome inquiries from companies that have already expanded overseas, as well as companies that are considering expanding overseas.

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