Showers

  • March 29, 2023

This is Swimmer.
As my name suggests, I like to swim, but recently I have not gone swimming at all.
I am thinking about the opportunity to go to the pool again, as I remember how warm and gentle the hot shower I took after I swam without thinking was.

The shower seems to have been invented in France in the late 19th century.
At first, they were made by drilling a hole in a pipe, but when the showerhead of today was invented in the 1920s, they quickly became popular. Things that are convenient and comfortable spread quickly.

The photo shows a shower head in use in my home.
Shower

Shower – Wikipedia

The Mystery of the Dekopon Name

  • March 22, 2023
#trademark

From winter to spring, I often see “Dekopon” in supermarkets. I sometimes buy Dekopon because it is sweet and tasty, with a distinctive appearance of the head sticking out like a hump. A product called “Shiranui” (Shiranuhi,), which looks like dekopon, can also be found.

デコポン

Both “Dekopon” and “Shiranui” are the result of crossbreeding “Kiyomi” and “Ponkan,” but “Dekopon” is a registered trademark of the Kumamoto Prefectural Fruit Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (JA Kumamoto Kajitsuren) (Japanese Registration No. 2495156), while “Shiranui” is a common name.

Because the name has a great impact, when you see a citrus fruit with a hump on its head, you tend to say “Dekopon!”. However, “Dekopon” is a type of “Shiranui” citrus that must meet quality standards such as a sugar content of 13 degrees or higher and a citric acid content of 1.0% or lower, and only licensed agricultural organizations are allowed to use the “Dekopon” trademark.

March 1 has been registered as “Dekopon Day” by the Japan Anniversary Association, in honor of the first shipment of “Dekopon” from Kumamoto Prefecture on March 1, 1991. “Dekopon” is also produced in Aichi and Mie Prefectures. (Syszo)

JA Kumamoto Kajitsuren – Trademarks
JA Kumamoto Kajitsuren – Beware of unauthorized use of the registered trademark “Dekopon”
Wikipedia – Dekopon
J-PlatPat – Japanese Trademark Registration No. 2495156

Chiikawa

  • March 15, 2023
#trademark

I would like to introduce “Chiikawa,” a character that we have recently seen in various places. Chiikawa, short for “Something Small and Cute,” is a manga work by illustrator Nagano. Chiikawa’s Twitter account (probably another Nagano account), where the manga is posted, has 1,957,000 followers! (as of March 8, 2023) The number of followers shows how popular it is. The main character, a bear, is called “Chiikawa”.

Chiikawa
*From the bulletin of Japanese Trademark Registration 6462301

There are 7 original goods stores “Chiikawa land” (permanent stores) in Japan. An animation of Chiikawa land is aired on “Mezamashi TV” every Friday around 7:40 a.m.. I searched J Plat-Pat for “Chiikawa,” which is so popular that it has collaborated with other characters such as Sanrio and Shonen Jump, as well as major companies such as Suntory and Family Mart, and found two “Chiikawa” hits. (Japanese Trademark Registration No. 6462303 and Registration No. 6649263) Also, since the right holders of the two trademarks were the same, I searched by the name of the right holder of the trademark, and I found 9 hits. (4 of them were related to Chiikawa)

Chiikawa

I have become a big fan of Chiikawa, and now I read the manga on Twitter, watch the anime in real time, and look around for collaboration goods. By the way, my favorite character is Chiikawa’s friend Rabbit. (Rabbit)

Blue Lock’s “That Mark”

  • March 8, 2023
#trademark

 “Blue Lock” is a very popular soccer animation in which one world-class striker is chosen by kicking out 299 out of 300 high school FWs. When we checked the trademark, we found that not only the title “Blue Lock” but also “that mark (*)” consisting of five pentagons was registered as a trademark in graphic form only (Japanese registration 6673890, with colors, registration date: 2023/2/21). Indeed, when I see it, I think “It’s a Blulo!”.
 *The “O” in the “LOCK” logo in the photo. The “O” in the “LOCK” logo in the photo is a single color of blue in the trademark.

Blue Lock

 Looking at the application history of this trademark, we see that an amendment was filed in response to a notice of reasons for refusal, and the description of “gemstones” in Class 14 was deleted from the designated goods and services. Coincidentally, I couldn’t help but feel a connection to the fact that Jinpachi Ego, the representative of Blue Lock, calls the gathered high school strikers “gemstones of talent” in the work. (Marron)

Antidote to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

  • March 1, 2023

 Recently, I came across an interesting article in the newspaper. The article is titled, “Gas Poisoning ‘Special Drug’ Expected” (subtitle: Doshisha University Develops Antidote for CO and Other Poisonous Compounds).

https://www.ytv.co.jp/press/kansai/186719.html (Yomiuri TV News (Japanese only))

 According to the article, a team led by Doshisha University professor Hiroaki Kitagishi (organic chemistry) has developed a compound that detoxifies gas poisoning caused by carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide. The team aims to put the compound to practical use in emergency situations as a “special medicine” against gas poisoning, which is a leading cause of death in fires.

 The press release can be found on the website of Doshisha University, to which Professor Kitagishi belongs. The research results are scheduled to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) and will be available online on February 21, 2023 (Japan time). A link to the paper is also introduced, so please take a peek if you are interested. It is an open access paper, so it can be viewed and downloaded for free.

 Since there was a press release, I assumed that a patent application had already been filed, so I searched the Japan Patent Office’s J-PlatPat system for the patent application. I found a registered patent application for a “cyanide antidote. Surprisingly, the right has already expired and is in the public domain.
(Japanese Patent No. 5619500, filed July 12, 2010, registered September 26, 2014, terminated September 26, 2019 due to non-payment of pension).

 In addition, a Google search shows that there is a history of research on antidotes for toxic gases generated during fires that has been conducted since around 2010 by a group at Doshisha University led by Professor Kitagishi and a group at Tokai University led by Professor Akira Kawaguchi. In other words, it seems that the latest version of a compound that has been studied for quite some time has been announced, leading to this article.

 The word “antidote” reminds me of atropine, which became known after the Tokyo Subway Sarin Incident, but I was a little surprised that there could be an antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning as well!
 Carbon monoxide produced in a fire, for example, is colorless and odorless, and has the frightening image of causing death before you know it. I can’t help but hope that the use of antidotes at emergency scenes will be realized as soon as possible and that as many lives as possible will be saved. (blink)