1. JPO Publishes Updated Trademark Examination Manual in Relation to “Letter of Consent” System (Shunji Sato)

In August 2024, the Japan Patent Office (“JPO”) published an updated English version of the Trademark Examination Manual (“Manual”) regarding the examination of “Letters of Consent”. This updated Manual was published following the previously published English version of the Examination Guidelines ... Read more >>>

2. Overview of Recent Trademark Cases Court Decisions in Japan (Gen Yamaguchi)

This article provides an overview of recent court cases related to trademarks, focusing on some noteworthy cases among all the 63 cases in 2023, divided into 25 civil lawsuits (mainly trademark infringement lawsuits) and 38 administrative lawsuits (lawsuits for rescinding decisions, etc.) ... Read more >>>

3. Japanese Patent Act Article 93: Probable First Request for Award Granting Non-Exclusive License in the Public Interest(Suguru Saito)

Article 93 of the Patent Act of Japan provides for the granting of awards of non-exclusive (compulsory) patent licenses in the public interest. Despite this provision, no such license has ever been granted. This article examines the probable first case in which companies have successfully requested such an award, ... Read more >>>

4. Examples of Design Registrations under the Revised Design Act in Japan -Part 5-: Related Designs (Miwa Hayashi, Koji Akanegakubo and Koji Miyake)

We have introduced various examples of design registrations which were newly registered after the introduction of the revised Design Act enacted in April 2020 (the “Revised Act”) in past newsletters (Japan Patent & Trademark Update Issue 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23). ... Read more >>>

5. About TMI

Since our establishment on October 1, 1990, TMI Associates has grown rapidly to become a full-service law firm that offers valuable and comprehensive legal services ... Read more >>>