According to the Japanese Patent Office’s (JPO) annual report published in August 2022, the number of first actions for trademarks increased by more than 23% from 2021 due to the streamlining of the examination system. This is not the only change that 2022 brought; April saw a boost in trademark-related...

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According to the Japanese Patent Office’s (JPO) annual report published in August 2022, the number of first actions for trademarks increased by more than 23% from 2021 due to the streamlining of the examination system. This is not the only change that 2022 brought; April saw a boost in trademark-related fees – most notably for registrations and renewals. In other news, the registration of colour marks continues to be a difficult feat. In June 2022, the JPO appeal board affirmed the examiners’ 2019 decision and refused to register Louboutin’s red shoe sole due to the lack of acquired and inherent distinctiveness. The board also felt that registering the single-colour mark would put an unfair restriction on the brand’s competitors. To this date, the JPO has allowed fewer than 10 colour marks to be registered on the basis of acquired distinctiveness, but they all consisted of a combination of colours rather than a single one.

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