Japanese patent office will admit registering unvisible signs as a trademark.

According to the report from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., the Patent Office is going to revise the trademark law to accept a registration of invisible things like sound, smell or a movement as an trademark in addition to usual characters.

Once a famous motorycyle manufacturer Harley-Davidson filed a lawsuit to registrate their charasteristic engine sound as a trademark, but only to fail. Would the new policy admit those kind of requests?

Read following for details.
(Japanese)Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.

Due to the diversification of expression to distinguish one service or product from another, patent law needs drastic and immidedate changes. So The Patent Office is making a discussion to revise the trademark registration policy, which is now limited only to a combination of visible signs like letters, characters, pictures, and figures. The revision will be made to extend the limitation to include unvisible signs like sound, smell, motion and so on. They summon a workshop in next month, and plan to present the revised guideline with congress in 2010.

How they going to judge the simirality of sound or smell when the amendment is made is not explained. Excessed protection to the right will be a burden.

This article was originally posted in Japanese at 11:34 June 25, 2008.