Nagoya’s famous sweets

  • December 25, 2024
#trademark

It’s that time of year when you start to see strawberries in the grocery stores and supermarkets.
When I see strawberries, I get excited thinking “I can eat those again”.

There is a Japanese confectionery that makes me feel that way, and that is “Ichigo Habutae” from Kitagawa Co, which is located in Kita-ku, Nagoya, Aichi prefecture.
As it is only available during the strawberry season, the specific date of its release is announced on the official website every year. I heard that it had gone on sale this year, so I went out and bought some straight away.

Ichigo Habutae

According to the official website (https://www.owarigashi-kitagawa.jp/ichigohabutae) of Kitagawa Co, the strawberry covered in a haubutae blanket from above is the official image.

The fluffy habutae rice cake, the elegant sweetness of the red bean paste filling, and the juicy strawberries are the perfect combination. In particular, the smooth, fluffy texture of the habutae rice cake is has an impact every time.

Another of Kitagawa’s signature sweets is the “Hesokuri Mochi”.
This is a product that is sold all year round, and a kumquat preserved in syrup is hidden inside the soft, fluffy habutae rice cake.

Hesokuri Mochi
I forgot to take a photo of the filling…

Hesokuri Mochi is very popular all over Japan, and it seems to sell like hotcakes at events all over the country.
Hesokuri Mochi is a registered trademark (Japanese Trademark Registration No. 4774453) for “sweets and bread” and other designated products, as of May 28, 2004.

Why not register your important product or service names as trademarks?
For consultations and requests regarding trademark registration, please feel free to contact us here.
Of course, we also welcome individual customers. (Sakuramochi)

STONE ROLLS

  • December 18, 2024
#trademark

The other day, I received a can of mackerel.
It had a label with the mark ‘STONE ROLLS’.

Kinka mackerel

…STONE ROLLS?
It’s a strange-looking mark, and it seems strange as English too.
I was intrigued, so I did a little research.

The label also says “Kinka mackerel, landed in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture”.
I realized when I looked up this information that Kinka mackerel is a local brand product of Ishinomaki, and is being promoted together with Kinka gin and Kinka bonito…

STONE ROLLS

Is STONE ROLLS a pun on the direct translation of Ishinomaki?
When I searched for STONE ROLLS itself, it came up!

According to the can label and this website, it seems that STONE ROLLS is read as “stonroruzu”. However, it is registered as “stone rolls” in the standard characters on J-PlatPat.

The waters around Kinkasan Island, a small island off the coast of Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, are rich in fish,
The mackerel that live in the reefs around Kinkasan Island and do not migrate are shipped under the Kinkasan Mackerel brand. Originally, they were called the ‘reef mackerel’ that come up to Ishinomaki Port.
Although ‘Kinkasan Mackerel’ is not a regional collective trademark, it seems to be expected as a regional brand. ‘Large-sized mackerel that are caught off the coast of Kinkasan Island and landed at Ishinomaki Port in season’. I’m looking forward to tasting them now. (blink)

A patented invention to prevent customer harassment

  • December 11, 2024
#patent

 This article introduces a patented invention that uses scientific methods to solve the problem of customer harassment.

 In the invention of Japanese Patent No. 7164793 “Speech Processing System, Speech Processing Device, and Speech Processing Method” (patent holder: SoftBank Corp.), a speech signal from a customer speaking to a call center operator is recognized by a speech processing device. If a specific word sequence is detected in the speech signal that insults the listener, denies the listener’s character, or otherwise makes the listener feel uncomfortable, the specific word sequence is removed or replaced with another word sequence. In addition, the customer’s emotions are evaluated, and if the anger level is high, a synthesized voice with suppressed emotions is output. This reduces the stress on the operator.

customer harassment

 In the invention of Japanese Patent No. 7384558 “Harmful Behavior Detection System and Method” (patent holder: Hitachi Systems, Ltd.), for example, the harmful behavior detection system detects and supports responses to harmful behavior such as malicious complaints from customers to store staff in stores. If a shop assistant receives a malicious complaint from a customer, the information terminal will detect words that indicate the possibility of harmful behavior from the voice data that has been recognized by voice recognition, and send it to the server. The server will make a judgment regarding the status of the malicious complaint, and if the degree of the malicious complaint is high, a security guard will be dispatched immediately.

customer harassment

 In Tokyo, the Customer Harassment Prevention Ordinance will come into effect on April 1st, 2025. It is hoped that providers of goods and services and customers (consumers) will respect each other’s positions, and that a fair and sustainable society free from customer harassment will be realized. (Conan)

All About Medicine

  • December 4, 2024
#patent #trademark

I think the term “generic” to refer to generic drugs has become widespread.
Generic drugs are medicines that are manufactured and sold after the patent on a new drug (original drug) has expired. They are inexpensive medicines that have been approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as having the same active ingredients and efficacy as the original drug.
In the past, when I was prescribed medicine at the hospital, I remember having to express my preference for a generic drug, or having my preference asked by the doctor or pharmacist, but now I get the impression that generics are prescribed as a matter of course without any particular confirmation.
It seems that the efforts made to promote their use in order to reduce medical costs have had a certain effect on the spread of generics.

Medicine

By the way, although it tends to be hidden behind the topic of the My Number insurance card, did you know that a new system for generics was introduced in October?
For some brand-name drugs (long-term listed drugs) that have generics, if you request a prescription for the brand-name drug, a “special fee” will be added on top of the usual co-payment.
It is hoped that this initiative will further promote the use of generic drugs.
About the choice medical treatment of long-term publication product| Saving on medical expenses | Japan Health Insurance Association

Now, a question out of the blue.
What is the first Japanese registered trademark?

The correct answer is a trademark related to medicine!
(You can probably guess the answer from the flow of the story…)

The first trademark was applied for on October 1st 1884, the same year as the trademark registration system began, and was registered on June 10th the following year. When I checked up to trademark number 50 on J-PlatPat, I found that, as far as I could tell from the “type of goods and product name”, all but four of them were trademarks related to medicine.
According to the book “Edo and Meiji Era Logo Illustrated Dictionary: A Look Back at Company Marks through Registered Trademarks”, trademarks related to medicine, which was a major domestic industry from the Edo period and also suffered a lot of counterfeiting, were registered the most throughout the Meiji era.

This year marks 140 years since the trademark registration system was established. In addition to medicine trademarks, the book also introduces many other retro trademarks, together with their historical background. I think this is a book that is both a reference book and a fun read.
The first registered trademark (depicting a person cutting a fish and cutting their finger) is also quite unique, but personally, I think the impact of the 13th Japanese registered trademark, which is also related to medicine, is incredible! (Cacao)