Have a Break

- Written by Patent Attorneys, Patent Engineers, Trademark Engineers, Translators, and Administrative staff -

Work experience at a patent office

  • March 19, 2021
#intellectual property #patent #patent attorney

At KidZania Tokyo, where children can experience work, “patent office” will open for a limited time!
This is a limited event from March 19th to 25th during “Patent Attorneys Week” held by the Japan Patent Attorneys Association and the planning and management company of KidZania.
It will be the first time that a work experience of a “patent attorney” has appeared in KidZania.
Participant will become a “patent attorney”, receive a request from the “invention workshop”, create patent application documents as an agent, and confirm the examination result at the “patent office satellite office”. A registration certificate will be issued, and the participant can take it home as a deliverable.
As a person working at a patent firm, I hope that children will have fun learning about intellectual property and the role of patent attorneys. (Cacao)

＜Reference Website＞
KidZania Tokyo news page (translated into English)
KidZania Tokyo Official Site｜A Real City for Kids! (English)

Fun for snacks

  • March 10, 2021
#trademark

The other day, I watched a documentary on TV about a woman involved in product development at Koike-ya Co., Ltd. The next day, I stopped by a convenience store in front of the station on my way home from work to buy the snack which was introduced since I felt the enthusiasm in the development, but it was sold out.

The influence of television is amazing. After that, it was available several days later. I felt the commitment and it was delicious.
Looking around the convenience store, you will find snacks with various tastes on sale, which makes you feel happy.
Catchphrases such as “limited”, “takumi” (craftsmanship) and “adult” (used for products which has an acquired taste) makes me lose my temptation and I can’t resist to buy it.
When I searched for Koike-ya on J-PlatPat, I found that 13 to 25 applications were filed annually for trademarks alone. Some names such as “New Normal Snack” and “LONG LIFE ∞ SNACK ∞ 湖” (湖 is “Ko” for “Koike-ya”) seem to reflect the era just by hearing them.
You can see the effort they are putting into their method of selling. I hope that they will continue to make products that will entertain us consumers. (Marigold)

Nekojasuri

  • March 3, 2021
#patent

The other day, when I was looking at the JPO public relations magazine “Tokkyo”, published on February 5, 2021, I found a product that caught my eye.
Its name is “Nekojasuri”.

This product is a file for cats to groom that was made to resemble the texture of cats’ tongue. It was made based on the tool manufacturing technology, developed by Wataoka Co., Ltd., a long-established file maker in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which has been in business for over 120 years.
How flexible the idea of the person who developed it is to associate the tongue of a cat with a file. I envy the person with such an inspiration.

Soon I bought it and gave it to my cat. Meow ❣

My cat is not usually a sweet type, but it is rubbing its head on the file.
It might be of a feeling that cannot be obtained from human hands. (Time)

Patent
[Japanese Patent number] No. 6698985
[Registration date] May 7, 2019
[Title of Invention] Massage device for pets

Tube container patent

  • February 24, 2021
#patent

Hello. This is Hiro.
I bought wasabi in a tube container, made and sold by S&B Foods Inc., with the patent number displayed.

When you open the cap, you can see that the shape around the screw part of the container and the inside of the cap have some designs to them.

Thanks to the locking part, it is difficult to loosen when the cap is closed, and it will not open without permission. Also, thanks to the screw part divided into four in the circumferential direction, it can be easily opened with a slight twist of the cap. In addition, the vertical grooves make it easy to crush the tip of the container and squeeze out the wasabi.

By the way, the problem to be solved by the invention of Japanese Patent No. 660532 is, “Compared to the conventional invention, the impact of outward convex of the container body constituting the loosening part just before overcoming the inward part of the lid is to be made stronger and the force required for this is to be increased. Furthermore, the distance to be overcome is shortened, thereby making the clearer feeling when the lid is closed.” Certainly, when you close the cap, you can clearly feel that it is closed.
I am surprised that such tube containers, which have been around for a long time, have been improved and made easier to use.

The detailed contents of this patent can be found at the link below (J-PlatPat).
Japanese Patent No. 6006532 (Click “English” at the top right of the page)
“Container and packaged food”.

Toge no Kamameshi

  • February 17, 2021
#trademark #utility model

The other day, I went to the “National Ekiben (Lunch Box sold at train stations) Fair” held at a grocery store near my house and purchased “Toge no Kamameshi” lunch box.
“Toge no Kamameshi” is an ekiben sold at Yokogawa Station in Gunma Prefecture, where ingredients such as quail eggs, chestnuts, and burdock are put on rice cooked with kelp (seaweed) and secret soup stock. It’s a very delicious lunch box that you will never get tired of eating many times.

As shown in the photo, the trademark registration number (No. 1731043) and the utility model registration number (No. 3094454) were found on the wrapping paper, so I searched for them with J-Platpat.

Regarding the trademark right, the vertical writing “Toge no Kamameshi” was registered as a designated product “Kamameshi”.
On the other hand, the utility model right was registered as the title of the device, “Kamameshi container”, which is “related to the Kamameshi container that can be effectively used as an air freshener container after being used for its original purpose”. The utility model right has already expired, but you can see the contents on J-Platpat, so if you are interested in what it was, please search. (Sakuramochi)

“KIYOSU” (Whiskey)

  • February 15, 2021
#trademark

The other day, I saw an advertisement for a whiskey named “KIYOSU” in the subway train. It is manufactured and sold by Kiyosuzakura Brewery Corporation. The company is located in Kiyosu City, which borders Nagoya City. Speaking of Kiyosuzakura Brewery, “Kiyosu Castle Nobunaga Oni Koroshi” is their famous sake, but they also make whiskey, vodka, and gin as well.

When I searched for “Kiyosuzakura Brewery” on J-PlatPat, 4 Japanese registered trademarks including ” KIYOSUJONOBUNAGA ” came up.
Japanese whiskey is one of the world’s five major whiskeys and is so popular that some brands are running out of stock. In addition, craft gin, which is flavored with botanical ingredients peculiar to the production area, is becoming more popular because it has a strong character. Both are interesting liquors. I would like to try it once. (Syszo)

※The photograph is an image
Aichi Craft Whiskey Kiyosu-Kiyosu Sakura Brewery Co., Ltd. | Aichi Craft Kiyosu [Whiskey Vodka Gin] (onikoroshi.co.jp)
Special page regarding the Aichi Craft Whiskey KIYOSU

Trademark “Fist” (“Right”)?

  • February 3, 2021
#trademark

(拳(ken) = fist, 権(ken) = right)

There is a page on the JPO homepage that introduces business trademark interestingly.

https://www.jpo.go.jp/introduction/soshiki/design_keiei/shohyoken/index.html
(Japanese JPO homepage of introduction of business trademark)

There is a video on this page which introduces a seemingly weak president who got his company’s trademark imitated and learns the mystery of “Trademark Fist (Right)” to protect the company’s important rights.
(Swimmer)

Patent: Pancake mix

  • January 27, 2021
#patent #trademark

Since cake is my favorite food, I checked on patents for cake. When I looked up for cakes that were registered as patent, I found Japanese Patent Registration No. 5771385, [Title of the invention] The arrangement mix of hot cake mixes, and premixed foods, whose owner is Morinaga & Co.,Ltd.

Morinaga & Co., Ltd.’s hot cake mix is available at the store I usually go to, and you can easily purchase them.
When I looked at the package of the pancake mix, the JPA (Japan Premix Association) mark was printed. The Japan Premix Association has established the JPA mark from the standpoint of “recognizing awareness and responsibility as a member and contributing to consumers”, and the display is being carried out to the products of member companies after undergoing trademark procedures to the Japan Patent Office.
(raspberry)

Internet application system for entrance examinations

  • January 22, 2021
#patent

In the Intellectual Property industry where we are, patent application, design registration application, trademark registration application would come to our mind when we use the word “application”. However, in the general society, many people may think of the procedure of mailing the application forms and surveys to take an examination for high school or university. Recently, Internet applications have become more common in applying for entrance examinations.

Under such circumstances, the invention “Matching method of application data and survey report data”, which focused on improving the business of sending the survey report of the examinee from the entry school to the applying school and accepting the survey report, was registered last year in June and August. It was registered as Japanese Patent Registration No. 6715423 and Japanese Patent Registration No. 6752480 (Patent holder: At System Co., Ltd.) With these inventions, it is possible to shorten the working hours of teachers and school clerical staff, as well as preventing data entry errors during transcription work.

From the viewpoint of patent application procedure, it is noteworthy that these two patent applications are subject to the exception of loss of novelty for the presentation before filing and for request for accelerated examination. Therefore, Japanese Patent Registration No. 6715423 was registered in about 7 months after filing, and Japanese Patent Registration No. 6752480 was registered only in about 4 months after filing. According to the patentee’s homepage (URL below), it seems that the system has already been adopted by many schools.

The examination season is coming soon. If any of the students who are viewing this blog are taking the exam, be careful of your physical condition and do your best. (Conan)

https://www.atsystem.jp/
(At System Co., Ltd. Homepage (Japanese))
https://www.ckip.jp/top/
(Website for Internet application system, school operation support system (Japanese))

Glasses that don’t hang on your nose

  • January 13, 2021
#patent

The other day, when I stopped by at the Gozaisho service area, I saw a photo signboard. It seems the temples, not the nose, tuck the sides of the face to support the glasses. I thought this was very good because the nose pad would leave marks on my face and remove my makeup.

The sign says “Patent pending”, so I looked it up on J-PlatPat, and there was a patent filed by iZone Japan Co., Ltd., the original seller of the product.
(Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-95243, Japanese Patent No. 6749712)

The patent was published in 2020, and it had already been registered by then, so when checking the progress information, it seems that it was the subject of super accelerated examination.

If you meet the requirements of (1) and (2), an application will be subject to the super accelerated examination.
(1) Being both an “implementation-related application” and a “foreign-related application”, or being both an application by a venture company and being an “implementation-related application”
(2) The application must be an online procedure for all procedures performed after 4 weeks before the application for super accelerated examination.

For details on Super Accelerated Examination, please refer to “Procedures for Super Accelerated Examination” on the JPO website. (Marron)

https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/laws/rule/guideline/patent/document/index/supersoukisinsa.pdf
(Japanese only)

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=https://www.jpo.go.jp/faq/yokuaru/patent/super_souki_qa.html
(Q & A about Super Accelerated Examination by Google translation)

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