翻訳コラム

カレーの商標の争いです。

「地獄のカレー」という登録商標を有する札幌市の会社((株)北都)が、
「血の池地獄カレー」という商品名((株)Hell Company(大分市)
に対し、商標権侵害として提訴しました。

「地獄のカレー」は商標登録済(5,376,915号)
「血の池地獄カレー」は商標登録出願中(商願2019-150148号)です。

血の池地獄カレー

(販売サイトamazonよりダウンロード)

地獄のカレー

報道によると、北都社は、地獄の責め苦のように辛いカレーという点で同じと主張しているようですが、「血の池地獄カレー」の地獄はそういう意味ではなく、地名の一部です。
地名である「血の池地獄のカレー」の使用は「地獄のカレー」の商標権の侵害とは判断されないでしょう。
しかし、この商品パッケージが侵害かどうかと、商標登録されるかどうかは別問題です。
「血の池地獄カレー」という文字だけから成る商標出願は、産地表示と判断されるため、登録されるためには、周知性を証明する必要があるでしょう。

There has been a dispute over trademarks for curries.

A company in Sapporo City, having the registered trademark “Jigoku no Curry” (Hokuto Co., Ltd.) filed a lawsuit insisting that the product name “Chinoike Jigoku no Curry” (Hell Company Co., Ltd., Oita City) infringes the trademark right of “Jigoku no Curry.”

“Jigoku no Curry” is a registered trademark (No. 5,376,915)
A trademark application for “Chinoike Jigoku no Curry” was filed in November 2019, but it has not been registered yet (Japanese Trademark Application No. 2019-150148).

Chinoike Jigoku no Curry

(downloaded from Amazon’s online shopping site)

Jigoku no Curry

“Chinoike Jigoku” is indeed the name of a sightseeing spot in Oita Prefecture. This means that “Chinoike Jigoku” refers to the origin of the product and has no distinctiveness. Illustrations in the background, therefore, are the principal part of the trademark.
When determining if trademarks are similar or not, elements having no distinctiveness are disregarded.

Reportedly, Hokuto insists that these names are similar in meaning, since “Jigoku Curry” could refer to the curry being spicy like hellfire (jigoku means hell in English). However, “Chinoike Jigoku Curry” has no such meaning, as it refers to the geographical name in part.
Use of “Chinoike Jigoku Curry” which includes a geographical name will probably not be judged as infringing the trademark right of “Jigoku no Curry.”
However, whether this product package infringes the trademark right of “Jigoku no Curry” is different from whether “Chinoike Jigoku Curry” is a registered trademark or not.
In order for a trademark application consisting of only the words “Chinoike Jigoku no Curry” to be registered, proving that the name is well known may be required for it to be judged as indicating the origin of goods.