Japanese Trademark Jurisprudence

In this comprehensive study of the Japanese trademark law system, the author presents the view of trademark rights in Japan as articulated in the relevant statues and by Japanese courts and commentators. Relying on nearly 200 judicial opinions, nearly 200 books and law review articles, and the author’s own translation of the Japanese Trademark Law, the author argues that trademark law as enforced by Japanese courts is a very sophisticated and well-developed field of law – far more advanced than is generally supposed by those outside Japan. This book has three primary theses, all of them controversial. First, Professor Port argues that Japanese courts are rather paternalistic in protecting trademark owners, both from Japan and from foreign countries. Japanese courts have not hesitated to create judicial doctrine or rules that dampen the potential harsh impact a literal reading of the statue might allow regarding foreign trademark rights. Second, this book argues that Japanese trademark owners are extremely rights conscious and Japanese courts clearly recognize and protect these rights as corporations compete. Although some argue that all of law in Japan can be explained by culture, the findings here demonstrate that culture is not king in the judicial trademark law field and that Japanese zealously litigate trademark rights in order to compete for market share. Finally, this book shows the very broad scope of trademark protection in Japan. Again, although criticized for being too narrow, the Japanese trademark system confers property status to trademarks themselves, something the American system does not do. This results in a system where trademark registrations may be difficult to obtain, but once obtained are significantly broader in scope and resistant to divestiture than was previously believed.