Trademark Act Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 7: Trademarks That Cannot Be Registered
This item stipulates that trademarks that violate public order or morality cannot be registered.
For trademark registration applications, there are some applications that cannot be rejected under other provisions but should not be granted registration.This item is provided to reject such applications.
Public order refers to the general rules and order of society, and good morals refer to the general moral concepts of society. Even if the composition of the trademark itself does not violate public order or morality, cases where the use of the trademark for designated goods, etc., would violate public order, etc., are also subject to this item. Furthermore, trademarks whose use is prohibited by other laws, trademarks that insult a specific country or its citizens, and trademarks that violate international good faith also fall under this item.
Regarding this item, there are cases where grounds for invalidation arise subsequently (Article 46, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Trademark Act). Also, the statute of limitations (Article 47, Paragraph 1 of the Trademark Act) does not apply to this item. This is because this item is provided for reasons of public interest.
(Supplementary Note)
It is also conceivable that "famous characters" that are not used as trademarks may be filed for registration cases. While Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 10, etc., of the Trademark Act are provisions for rejecting applications based on the existence of "well-known trademarks," it can be considered that if it is not a trademark, it does not fall under (cannot be rejected by) Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 10, etc., of the Trademark Act. Even in such cases, with this item (Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 7 of the Trademark Act), it is possible to reject the application based on the "existence of something other than a trademark". Therefore, if "famous characters" that are not used as trademarks are filed for registration, this item is considered the only one that can reliably serve as grounds for rejection.
・Trademark Act Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 7
(Trademarks that cannot be registered)
Article 4 Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article, the following trademarks may not be registered.
7. Trademarks that are likely to cause damage to public order or morality
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