Explanation of the Standards of an Exhibition Specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office

Transcription

1 16.04 Explanation of the Standards of an Exhibition Specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office 1. The standards specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office specified pursuant to Article 4(1)(ix) and Article 9(1) of the Trademark Act are as follows: Public Notice No. 6 of the Patent Office Based on Article 4(1)(ix) (Act No. 127 of 1959) and Article 9(1) of the Trademark Act, the standards specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office are established as follows and shall come into force as from April 1, March 13, 2012 the Commissioner of the Patent Office Iwai Yoshiyuki 1 An exhibition held by those who are not the national or a local government (hereinafter referred to as the "Government, etc.") and complying with the standards specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office provided by Article 4(1)(ix) of the Trademark Act, shall satisfy the following requirements: (i) the purpose is to contribute to the development of the industry, and, whatever the name, such as, "exhibition" and "trade fair", it is held in order to exhibit and display goods relating to the industry; (ii) the holding place; the holding period; the eligibility for exhibitors and attendances; the number of the exhibitors, and the kinds and quantities of goods on exhibition, etc. are determined as appropriate in light of the purpose of that item; (iii) it is an exhibition co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc. or other exhibitions equivalent thereto. 2 An exhibition held by those who are not the Government, etc. and an international exhibition held by the Government, etc. of a country which is not a country of the Union of the Paris Convention, a member of the World Trade Organization or a Contracting Party to the Trademark Law Treaty or by those authorized thereby to hold such exhibition in its territory, which comply with the standards specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office and provided in Article 9(1) of the Trademark Act, shall satisfy the following requirements: (i) the purpose is to contribute to the development of the industry, and, whatever the name,

2 such as, "exhibition" and "trade fair", it is held in order to exhibit and display goods relating to the industry; (ii) the holding place, the holding period, the eligibility for exhibitors and attendances, the number of the exhibitors and the kinds and quantities of goods on exhibition and the like are determined as appropriate in view of the purpose of that item; (iii) an exhibition held in Japan, in principle, is an exhibition co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc. or other exhibitions equivalent thereto. 2. The explanations of the said standards are as follows: (1) The purpose of Article 4(1)(ix) is to maintain the authority of the prize of an exhibition and to prevent misconception of the quality of goods or services, and the purpose of Article 9(1), following to Article 11 of the Paris Convention, to protect an exhibitor in a case where an application for trademark registration of a trademark used for goods or services exhibited at an exhibition by the exhibitor is filed in first by a person other than the exhibitor who should be a correct applicant for trademark registration, thereby respective purposes are different from each other. "1" in the said standards provides the requirements on an exhibition provided in Article 4(1)(ix), and "2" in these standards provides the requirements on an exhibition provided in Article 9(1) of the Trademark Act. For the said standards, except for the requirements of "1(iii)" and "2(iii)," the same requirements are provided, however, in examination, in light of the respective purposes, an exhibition shall be determined whether it satisfies each of the requirements. (2) Standards "1(i)" and "2(i)" provide the purpose and the name of an exhibition. An "exhibition" in this provision is referred to as a "meeting held for the purpose of collecting and exhibiting various kinds of products to be viewed and purchased by public, thus, promoting the industry and the culture. ("Koujien 6th-edition; Iwanami Shoten"), and the purpose is "to contribute the development of the industry" as provided in the said standards. The name of an "exhibition" is not necessary to be titled in combination with the name of "exhibition " or "trade fair", and it may also be titled in combination with other name, such as, for example, " ten", "collection", "industry mihon ichi," "trade show," "fair," and "Messe." However, even if the name is titled in combination with names, such as an "exhibition" and a "trade fair", if the purpose of a meeting(such as, a sales exhibition of various kinds of commercial goods or an exhibition of paintings or fine arts held by a

3 department store or a retail outlet merely as part of sales of commercial goods) does not comply with each of the standards specified by the Commissioner of the Patent Office, the meeting does not fall under an "exhibition" in this provision. (3) Standards "1(ii)" and "2(ii)" are examples of considerations in the general outline for holding an exhibition, such as, the holding place, the holding period, the eligibility for exhibitors and attendances, the number of the exhibitors and the kinds and quantities of goods on exhibition: (a) Whether "the holding place and the holding period" are appropriate or not shall be determined in light of a general purpose of an exhibition for being viewed and purchased by public. Examples of cases where the holding place and the holding period are not appropriate are cases, such as, (i) a case where the capacity of a site at which an exhibition is held is extremely low; (ii) a case where a holding place locates on an area with transportation difficulty, such as, an isolated island; or (iii) a case where an exhibition is held at a holding place locating on an area (such as, an mountainous area)with transportation difficulty, but during a seasonal period when the area may have transportation difficulty. (b) "The eligibility for exhibitors and attendances" shall not be limited, in principle. However, where reasonable grounds are present in, such as, the purpose of holding, the scale of a site, or the like, limitation may be given to the eligibility under conditions being not discriminatory within the scope of the limitation. Examples of this case includes cases, such as, (i) a case where the age of attendances is limited by the reason that the goods on exhibition of an exhibition are "tobaccos," "alcoholic drinks" and the like, and (ii) a case where even if the holding site has a considerable capacity, a level of limitation is given to the eligibility by considering the safety and convenience of the attendances. Collecting the exhibition charge from exhibitors or the entry charge from attendances does not fall under limitation. (c) With regard to the number of the exhibitors and kinds and quantities of goods on exhibition, if the purpose cannot be said at all to be viewed and purchased by public, for example, in cases, such as, a case where the number of the exhibitors of an exhibition is extremely small or limited, they cannot be said as appropriate. (4) In the provision "1(iii)," as requirements of an exhibition held by the Government, etc. provided in Article 4(1)(ix), "to be an exhibition co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc. or any other exhibition equivalent to these" is provided.

4 (a) An exhibition with a profit-making purpose or an exhibition of which purpose is to give a profit only to some, such as, a specific enterprise does not fall under the exhibition of this provision. When an exhibition is held, in general, requirements for being co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc., are that the purpose for holding the exhibition is non-profit one and is not to give a profit only to some, such as, a specific enterprise, thus, in this standard, based on these actual conditions, a fact that an exhibition is co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc., is made the requirement for the exhibition to be the intended exhibition of this provision. However, in light of the purpose of Article 4(1)(ix) "to maintain the authority of the prize of an exhibition and to prevent misconception of the quality of goods or services", it is necessary to take note that even if an exhibition is co-sponsored or sponsored by a local government, in some cases, the exhibition may not be determined as applicable to this item, as a results of considering the outline of exhibition holding (such as, a case where the exhibitors and attendances are limited only to persons belonging to the local government) and the name recognition, etc. of the exhibition. (b) "Other exhibitions equivalent thereto" include an exhibition held by Incorporated Administrative Agency, Public Interest Incorporated Associations or Public Interest Incorporated Foundations (including Special Incorporated Associations or Special Incorporated Foundations provided by Article 42(1) of Act on Arrangement of Relevant Acts Incidental to Enforcement of Act on Arrangement of Relevant Acts Incidental to Enforcement of and Act on Authorization of Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public Interest Incorporated Foundations), and other non-profit organizations undertaking a business for public interest. An exhibition held by Incorporated Administrative Agency, etc. shall be treated as being equivalent to the exhibition co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc. by considering that the exhibition is not held with a profit-making purpose or a purpose to give a profit only to some, such as, a specific enterprise since the characteristics of these juridical persons. (5) In the provision "2(iii)", as requirements of an exhibition held by the Government, etc. provided in Article 9(1), "an exhibition held in Japan should be one co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc. or any other exhibition equivalent to these" is provided. (a) An exhibition with a profit-making purpose or an exhibition of which purpose is to give a profit only to some, such as, a specific enterprise does not fall under the exhibition of this provision.

5 When an exhibition is held, in general, requirements for being co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc., are that the purpose for holding the exhibition is non-profit one and is not to give a profit only to some, such as, a specific enterprise, thus, in this standard, based on these actual conditions, a fact that an exhibition is co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc., is made the requirement for the exhibition to be the intended exhibition of this provision. (b) "Other exhibitions equivalent thereto" include an exhibition held by Incorporated Administrative Agency, Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public Interest Incorporated Foundations (including Special Incorporated Associations or Special Incorporated Foundations provided by Article 42(1) of Act on Arrangement of Relevant Acts Incidental to Enforcement of Act on Arrangement of Relevant Acts Incidental to Enforcement of and Act on Authorization of Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public Interest Incorporated Foundations), and other non-profit organizations undertaking a business for public interest. An exhibition held by Incorporated Administrative Agency, etc. shall be treated as being equivalent to the exhibition co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc. by considering that the exhibition is not held with a profit-making purpose or a purpose to give a profit only to some, such as, a specific enterprise since the characteristics of these juridical persons. (c) In this provision, a phrase "in principle" is described. The purpose of this description is to make clear that even if being not co-sponsored or sponsored by the Government, etc., an exhibition may be recognized as one held by those who are not the Government, etc. provided in this paragraph, and as an exception of this, for example, a well-known exhibition not sponsored by the Government, etc., or the like may be considered. (Note) Click below to see the Examination Guidelines for Trademarks Examination Guidelines for Trademarks: Article 4(1)(ix) (Prize Awarded at an Exhibition) Article 4(1) (xi) (Another Person s Registered Trademark Applied for Prior to the Filing Date of the Trademark Application Concerned) Article 9 (Special provisions at the time of filing of application)