Trademark Act Article 7-2: Regional Collective Trademarks
This article provides for regional collective trademarks.
The regional collective trademark system is a system that allows for the registration of trademarks consisting solely of characters that indicate a regional name and the name of a product, etc., in a commonly used manner, provided that the trademark has acquired a certain level of recognition.
1. Requirements for the Applicant
Registration of a regional collective trademark is only permitted when an application is filed by a prescribed association. A prescribed association is an association (juridical person) established under special laws, such as business cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, fisheries cooperatives, sake brewers' associations, and commercial and industrial associations. Furthermore, it is a prerequisite that the special law guarantees the freedom of qualified persons to join the association.
2. Requirements for the Trademark
The composition of a trademark that can be registered as a regional collective trademark is as follows:
(i) A trademark consisting solely of characters indicating a regional name and the common name of the goods, etc., related to the business of the applicant or its members, displayed in a commonly used manner,
(ii) A trademark consisting solely of characters indicating a regional name and the customary name of the goods, etc., related to the business of the applicant or its members, displayed in a commonly used manner,
(iii) A trademark consisting solely of characters indicating a regional name, the common name or customary name of the goods, etc., related to the business of the applicant or its members, displayed in a commonly used manner, and characters commonly used to indicate the place of origin of the goods, etc., displayed in a commonly used manner.
Therefore, for example, a trademark containing a figure cannot be registered as a regional collective trademark.
The regional name included in a regional collective trademark is a name that has a close connection to the region, such as the place of origin of the goods, the place of provision of services, or other equivalent locations. Specific examples of such regional names include former place names, former province names, river names, mountain names, lake and marsh names, sea area names, and other geographical names.
In addition, to be registered as a regional collective trademark, a certain level of recognition is required. Specifically, a regional collective trademark is a trademark used by the members of a prescribed association, and it must have become well-known as a result of its use. Being well-known means that it is widely recognized among consumers as indicating the goods, etc., related to the business of the person using the trademark. Specifically, it must have achieved recognition at least to the extent of covering adjacent prefectures.
Furthermore, it must satisfy general registration requirements. General registration requirements mean, for example, that it has not become a common name or a customary trademark as a whole (it does not fall under Article 3, Paragraph 1, Items 1 or 2 of the Trademark Act (Article 7-2, Paragraph 1, main clause, parenthetical text)). Note that if the requirements of Article 7-2, Paragraph 1 are met, it will not be refused under Article 3, Paragraph 1, Items 3 to 6.
・Trademark Act Article 7-2
(Regional Collective Trademark)
Article 7-2: A business cooperative or other association established by a special law (excluding those without legal personality, and limited to those for which the special law provides that they shall not, without justifiable grounds, refuse the admission of a person who is qualified to be a member, or impose conditions on such admission that are more difficult than those imposed on current members at the time of their admission), a chamber of commerce and industry, a commercial and industrial association, a specified non-profit corporation as defined in Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the Act on Promotion of Specified Non-profit Activities (Act No. 7 of 1998), or a foreign juridical person equivalent thereto (hereinafter referred to as an "Association, etc.") may, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 (excluding cases pertaining to Paragraph 1, Item 1 or 2 of the same Article), obtain a trademark registration for a regional collective trademark for a trademark used by its members that falls under any of the following items, if the trademark has become widely recognized among consumers as indicating the goods or services related to the business of the applicant or its members as a result of the use of the trademark:
1. A trademark consisting solely of characters indicating a regional name and the common name of the goods or services related to the business of the applicant or its members, displayed in a commonly used manner
2. A trademark consisting solely of characters indicating a regional name and the customary name of the goods or services related to the business of the applicant or its members, displayed in a commonly used manner
3. A trademark consisting solely of characters indicating a regional name, the common name or customary name of the goods or services related to the business of the applicant or its members, displayed in a commonly used manner, and characters commonly used to indicate the place of origin of the goods or the place of provision of the services, displayed in a commonly used manner
(2) In the preceding paragraph, "regional name" means the name of a region or its abbreviation that is recognized as having a close connection to the goods or services, such as the place of origin of the goods or the place of provision of the services for which the applicant or its members have been using the trademark related to the application since before the filing of the application for trademark registration, or other equivalent locations.
(3) Regarding the application of the provisions of Article 3, Paragraph 1 (limited to the parts pertaining to Items 1 and 2) in the case of Paragraph 1, the term "its own" in the same paragraph shall be deemed to be replaced with "its own or its members'".
(4) A person who intends to obtain a trademark registration for a regional collective trademark pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 1 must, in the application for trademark registration under Article 5, Paragraph 1, submit to the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office a document certifying that the applicant for trademark registration is an Association, etc., and documents necessary to certify that the trademark related to the application for trademark registration contains a regional name as prescribed in Paragraph 2.
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