Date of Judgment: July 20, 1990
Issuing Authority: Supreme Court
Level of the Issuing
Authority: Final Instance
Type of Procedure: Judicial (Civil)
Subject Matter: Trademarks
Summary of the
judgment (decision):
If, at the
time of an application for the registration of a trade mark which is
reminiscent of the image and the name of the principal character of a cartoon,
the name of this character is familiar to the general public as inseparable
from the character from the cartoon, under the circumstances that a mark which
comprises the name of the character in letters had been attached to products
with the consent of the copyright holder of the cartoon, the holder of the
right on the registered trade mark is not allowed to claim infringement in
relation to the above mark as an abuse of rights.
(Translated
by Sir Ernest Satow Chair of Japanese Law, University of London)