Registration of a Three-Dimensional Trademark for the Y Chair
Case Number : H22 Gyo-ke 10253, Date of Judgment: June 29, 2011, Court: Intellectual Property High Court, Third Division
The Applicant, Carl Hansen & Son Japan, is a high-end furniture manufacturing company, which was established over 100 years ago in Denmark. One of the company’s signature chairs is the CH 24, also known as the Y Chair in Japan because the chair’s back is shaped like the letter Y. The company has been selling the chair since 1950.
The Applicant attempted to register a three-dimensional trademark for the Y Chair as a Class 20 “armchair” with the Japan Patent Office (JPO). The JPO, however, rejected the trademark application, pursuant to Article 3, Paragraph 1, Number 3 of the Japanese Trademark Act. According to that clause, a trademark will not be registered if it “consists solely of a mark indicating” the shape of goods. The Applicant filed this claim with the IP High Court, seeking a reversal of the JPO’s decision.
The court ruled in favor of the Applicant and reversed the JPO’s rejection of the trademark application. The court found that the JPO was correct to deny the trademark pursuant to Article 3, Paragraph 1, Number 3 of the Trademark Act. The court found, however, that the JPO should have registered the trademark due to the use exception of Article 3, Paragraph 2. That clause states that a trademark may be registered if, “as a result of the use of the trademark, consumers are able to recognize the goods or services as those pertaining to a business of a particular person.”
The court based its decision on the worldwide fame of the chair and its designer, Hans J. Wegner; the Applicant’s continuous sales of the chair since 1950; the high number of Y chairs that the Applicant has sold in Japan; and the frequent appearances of the chair, since 1960, in Japanese magazines, furniture-industry publications, school textbooks, and the company’s countless advertisements.
Some other examples of three-dimensional trademarks that have been registered in Japan are the Coca Cola bottle and the Colonel Sanders statue.
Click here to view images of the Applicants chair.
Are you interested in registering a trademark in Japan? Click here to learn about nipponCompass’s trademark practices.
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