Date of
Judgment: July 20,1971
Issuing
Authority: Supreme
Court
Level of
the Issuing Authority: Final Instance
Type of
Procedure: Judicial
(Criminal)
Subject
Matter: Trademarks
Summary
of the judgment (decision):
1. In the case of processing
of goods, without legitimate authority, by affixing a registered trademark to
the packaging of designated goods for the purpose of selling the same, the fact
that the content is the trademark right holder's own product and, furthermore,
that the content is new does not have any influence on the establishment of a
crime according to Article 37, item (ii) and Article 78 of the Trademark Act.
2. Even if the packaging has
no aesthetic element in particular, and even if it is mainly for protecting the
goods for transportation, a cardboard box, as a container for the goods, falls
under the "packaging of goods" as stipulated in Article 37, item (ii)
of the Trademark Act.
3. It is not necessary for
the act stipulated in Article 37, item (ii) of the Trademark Act to be always
conducted as a business.
(This
translation is provisional and subject to revision.)