Monthly Archives: July 2021

Spice Curry

  • July 30, 2021
#trademark

When I was net-surfing the other day, I came across a recipe for spiced curry by a spice cooking expert named “Indo Curry-Ko”. (“Indo” is India in Japanese, “-Ko” is commonly used for a girl’s name in Japanese)

Her recipe basically uses only three spices: cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and turmeric (I like spicy food, so I add cayenne pepper). The other ingredients are　what you can easily find, such as onions, tomatoes, and yogurt. Just with these ingredients, you can make an authentic curry with the tasty scent of the spices. I love it so much that I keep making it again and again. I hope to eat a lot of spice curry this summer and get through it with energy.

“Indo Curry-Ko” is registered as a trademark for the designated product “Curry” (Japanese Trademark Registration No. 6176763, Japanese Trademark Registration No. 6393357). (Sakuramochi)

Resin Accessories

  • July 21, 2021
#patent

An old friend of mine has been making accessories with UV resin.
UV resin is a special resin solution that hardens under UV light.
After pouring the UV resin solution into a mold of your choice, you can put your favorite small objects in the mold, or you can color the UV resin solution itself and then expose it to UV light to harden it into your original accessory.

Even though it is just a resin solution, if you look into it, you will find that different manufacturers have different technologies, such as ease of hardening, blending with inclusions, durability, etc. that Patents for manufacturing methods have been applied.
There are many kits available at general stores and stationery stores in town, and you may see them, but I feel that it is a very deep world where the sense of the creator is important because it is easy to make. (Swimmer)

Original Sacher Torte

  • July 19, 2021
#trademark

I found out that Hotel Sacher in Vienna was running a limited-time campaign to send sachertorte with free shipping worldwide, so I ordered it.

Sachertorte is a cake made by coating the entire chocolate-flavored sponge with chocolate, which was invented by the cook Franz Sacher in 1832. It was served at the restaurant and cafe of Hotel Sacher, which was later opened by his second son Eduard and that seems to be the beginning of sachertorte.
The recipe was kept secret from the public, but when the hotel fell into financial difficulties, Demel, a confectionery store that served the royal family of Vienna, obtained the right to sell it,
After that, the recipe became widely known, and Hotel Sacher filed a lawsuit against Demel seeking an injunction against the use and sale of trademark rights, but after seven years of trial, both sides were accepted to sell sachertorte.
As a result, Demel’s Sacher Torte is sold as “Demel’s Sachertorte ” and Hotel Sacher’s is sold as “Original Sacher Torte”.

The Original Sacher Torte I ordered arrived safely withstanding the heat. It fits perfectly in the wooden box and did not crumble.

The cake is intensely sweet and dense, but the sour apricot jam sandwiched in between the sponge accentuates the flavor. The sweetness of the cake can be softened a bit by serving it with sugar-free whipped cream, just like the one served at the hotel. In the coronavirus crisis, I was able to have a valuable overseas experience. (Syszo)

Sacher Torte(Wikipedia)

Center Test (the Common Test for University Admissions) and Intellectual Property

  • July 7, 2021
#intellectual property

Is knowledge of intellectual property useful for college entrance exams? In the modern society of the 2020 Center Test, there was a question 5 of the 4th question section to select the most appropriate description of the concept and legal system related to modern information and communication technology from four options. It was something like this:
“③ In Japan, there is no court specializing in cases related to intellectual property.”
Since Japan has the Intellectual Property High Court (established in 2005), this option is incorrect.

In a high school “information” textbook, in the section “Law in the Information Society” in the chapter “Society Supported by Information Systems”, industrial property rights (patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, and trademark rights) and an overview of copyright are given. “Information” is not an examination subject at present, but in March this year, it was announced that “Information” will be added to the subjects of the Center Test in 2025 and onwards.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210324/k10012933181000.html (Japanese Only)

This may increase the interest of general high school students in intellectual property rights to some extent. However, in the “Information” sample questions presented by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, basic communication knowledge, programming, and statistical processing questions are selected. In common tests, where the ability to think is more important than memorizing knowledge, it seems that the possibility of intellectual property rights knowledge questions being selected is basically low. However, if public interest in intellectual property increases depending on national policies, the tendency to ask questions may also be affected. (Conan)