Japanese trademark law is mainly enacted by . Under this Act, only registered trademarks establish a "

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

" right (Article 18), and examination procedure is necessary for trademarks to be registered (Article 14). Japan's first modern trade mark law was enacted in 1884. The current Trademark Act was enacted in 1958, and has been amended several times since then. On the other hand, the protection for unregistered trademarks is provided by .

English translation

The definitive version of

Japanese law The law of Japan refers to legal system in Japan, which is primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with precedents also playing an important role. Japan has a civil law legal system with six legal codes, which were greatly influenced by Ger ...

is the text in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

. An official English-language translation of the law does not exist, but the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

Japan has the website "Japanese Law Translation", where users can search for Japanese laws and their unofficial English translation. IP laws such as

Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

Act,

Copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

Act,

Trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

Act,

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

Act and Unfair Competition Prevention Act are included there. In addition, J-PlatPat offers the public access to IP Gazettes of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) free of charge through internet. Reliable information on Japanese IP law in English is also provided by the websites of

Intellectual Property High Court The Intellectual Property High Court (, ''Chiteki-zaisan kōtō-saiban-sho''), sometimes abbreviated IPHC, is a special branch of Tokyo High Court in the judicial system of Japan. It is based in Kasumigaseki, a district in Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo, ...

, Japan Patent Office, "Transparency of Japanese Law Project", European Patent Office, and Institute of Intellectual Property (IIP) of Japan.Institute of Intellectual Property (IIP) of Japan
in English

Effects of trademark right

References

External links

Japanese Law Translation
- the website of Ministry of Justice Japan, by which you can search for Japanese laws and their English translation. Intellectual Property laws such as Patent Act, Copyright Act, Trademark Act, Design Act, Unfair Competition Prevention Act etc. are included.

in English *

*

*
Summary of Cases
- You can search for English summaries of IP cases in all the instances. *

- Presentation and theses on IP in English by Japanese judges, and the record of visitors to Intellectual High Court from all over the world.

in English. Handling not only patent and utility model but also design and trademark. The website contains the information on procedures for obtaining those IP rights. *

- detailed information including English summaries of significant court decisions.

- As part of "Transparency of Japanese Law Project", overviews and explanation of Japanese copyright and patent are provided in English. The website of this project also contains information on corporate law, contract law, finance law, insolvency law, arbitration law and civil litigation law in Japan.
Institute of Intellectual Property (IIP) of Japan
in English *

- free access to English translated Japanese famous books regarding Japanese Patent Law and Trademark Law.

- on the

European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation

web site {{Trademark law Japanese intellectual property law Trademark law by jurisdiction

English translation

Effects of trademark right

See also

References

External links