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Applications for Non-traditional Trademarks Started

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) started accepting applications for non-traditional trademarks; namely, Color Per Se Mark, Sound Mark, Motion Mark, Position Mark, and Hologram Mark, on April 1, 2015.

The JPO received 624 applications during the period from April 1 to April 30, and had received a total of 702 applications as of May 31, including:

Color Per Se Mark: 289 (257 in April alone)
Sound Mark: 219 (192)
Position Mark: 143 (126)
Motion Mark: 48 (46)
Hologram Mark: 3 (3)

Reportedly, the first non-traditional trademark registration will be issued around the end of this year.

Browsing Non-traditional Trademark Applications:

The applications for new types of trademarks can be easily found using the Japan Platform for Patent Information (“J-PlatPat”) system (formerly IPDL) offered by the JPO.

For example, to search Sound Mark applications, first point to the “Trademark” bar and select “1. Japanese Trademark Database” and you will be taken to “Searching Japanese Trademark Database” page.
There are “Type of trademark” check boxes at the bottom of the page, and if you select the “Sound Mark” box and click the “Search” button, results for sound mark applications registered in the database will be shown.
(As of June 30, as many as 655 applications for non-traditional trademarks were found in the J-PlatPat database.)

URL: https://www3.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/cgi-bin/ET/TM_AREA_E.cgi?1435905595756
(See the downloadable .pdf file below as well.)

The audio data of sound marks is available through the Official Trademark Gazettes. Many applications seeking trademark registrations for sound logos of TV commercials that are familiar to Japanese consumers have been filed.

The Japanese Trademark Gazettes can be accessed in the following way:

1. Enter the Trademark Application Number in the “Searching Japanese Trademark Database” page shown above, or tick the check box of a non-traditional mark you want to search.
2. Click “Search” and “View list” buttons, and choose the application number you require. Then you will find the “Summary” of the trademark application, and you can access the Official Gazette by pressing “Gazette” button at the upper right of the page. You can listen to the sound of a Sound Mark by pressing “音声再生” button in the upper right part of the page.

PDF Download

Authors

Trademark & Design DivisionAssociates Patent Attorneys

KAMIKURA, Hanako (Ms.)

[Practices]

Designs Trademarks

Other legal updates authored by KAMIKURA, Hanako (Ms.)

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