JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Atsushi Igarashi, Yoichiro Kuriyama, Misa Takahashi and Kosuke Ojio, TMI Associates
5. Intellectual Property, Data and Data Protection 5.1 Trade Marks A trade mark right arises after registration with the Patent Office. This process involves identifying the trade mark to be registered and filing an application specifying the scope of the designated goods or ser - vices for which the trade mark will be used. Trade marks that lack distinctiveness, run contrary to the public interest, or are similar to marks owned by oth - ers cannot be registered. Once registration is granted, the rights-holder obtains the exclusive legal right to use the trade mark in Japan for the specified goods and services, preventing others from using identical or confusingly similar marks. Sports organisations often register trade marks in cat - egories such as clothing (class 25), toys and sports equipment (class 28), advertising (class 35), and the organisation, arrangement, and conduct of sports competitions (class 41). The duration of a trade mark right is ten years. How - ever, because it is renewable, a trade mark can effec - tively be maintained indefinitely by renewing it each time. This makes trade marks particularly useful in the sports business. For this reason, sports event organ - isers – such as leagues – may require their mem - ber clubs to register trade marks for their logos and emblems. Trade marks can be registered even if the mark has not yet been used. Japan follows a “first-to-file” sys - tem rather than a “use-based” system. Anticipation and Abuse of Trade Mark Rights Anticipatory trade mark applications have been filed for famous names in the sports world. One example is the Juventus case. In that case, the plaintiff – who had registered the trade mark “Juventus” despite hav - ing no connection with the Italian Serie A football club – claimed trade mark infringement against a defend - ant who was licensed by the club to use the mark domestically. The court dismissed the claim on the grounds that the plaintiff’s actions amounted to an abuse of rights.
round evaluations have already begun, and no major issues have been identified so far. In September 2023, the Japan Sports Agency revised the governance code for national federations. The 13 core principles remained unchanged, but the accom - panying explanations were adjusted slightly to help improve the code’s practical effectiveness. A national federation that is assessed as non‑compliant during a review may face a reduction in subsidies provided by the Japan Sport Council (JSC). In addition, when a general sports organisation applies to the JSC for a grant, it must provide a self‑assessment and disclose its compliance status with the governance code. The governance code does not specifically address matters relating to the bankruptcy of a sports organi - sation. 4.3 Sport Funding The JSC, JOC, JPSA, and JSPO receive administra - tive grants, subsidies, and other forms of support from the government. These funds are then distributed to the various national federations to improve athletic performance, strengthen international competitive - ness, and enhance the overall competitive environ - ment. This sports promotion fund is also allocated to athletes and coaches who are part of Japan’s national teams. Government subsidies are estimated to make up more than 20% of the total income of the national federations. In addition, subsidies may be provided to other sports organisations by the Japan Sports Agency and the JSC through sports promotion lottery programmes. Lottery tickets for the Tokyo 2020 Games and the Rugby World Cup 2019 were also sold, with a por - tion of the proceeds used to support each respective event. Corporate sponsorship further plays a signifi - cant role in Japanese sport, particularly in support of national teams and professional clubs.
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