Date of
Judgment: October 7, 1983
Issuing
Authority: Supreme
Court
Level of
the Issuing Authority: Final Instance
Type of
Procedure: Judicial (Civil)
Subject
Matter: Trademarks
Summary
of the judgment (decision):
1. It is reasonable to make
the determination on whether or not a certain indication of business
constitutes an indication of business that is similar to another person's
indication of business, as stipulated in Article 1, paragraph (1), item (ii) of
the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, based on whether or not, under the
actual conditions of transaction, there is a risk that traders or customers
would recognize, from the impression, memory, or association or the like based
on the appearance, pronunciation, or concept of the two indications, that the
two indications are similar in their entireties.
2. The "act of creating
confusion", as stipulated in Article 1, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the
Unfair Competition Prevention Act, also includes an act, by a user of an indication
of business that is identical or similar to another person's well-known
indication of business, which is misleading as to the user being the same agent
of business as said other person, as well as an act which is misleading as to
the two persons being closely related in business, for example as a so -called
parent-subsidiary relationship or as affiliated companies.
(This
translation is provisional and subject to revision.)