intellectual property

Fuku-Can and Good Luck Charms

  • 2022年03月02日

#design #intellectual property #patent #trademark #utility model

One of the stores I like to stop by regularly is MUJI. While I have a variety of favorite products, I was able to buy the pre-ordered “Fuku-Can (Fortune Can)” for the first time last year, which I had been curious about for a long time. This year, I won the lottery and was able to buy one.

The “Fuku-Can” has a gift card with an amount equal to the purchase price (2,022 yen this year) and Japanese lucky charms in it. There are cute and interesting lucky charms in the can, and it’s fun just to look at the enclosed flyer that introduces them on both sides. It is also an opportunity to become familiar with Japanese culture rooted in the region.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Fuku-Can, which was launched on New Year’s Day 2012 with 14 kinds of lucky charms from four prefectures in Tohoku, with the intention of supporting Tohoku’s recovery from the earthquake.
“CREATIVE IMAGINATION” exhibition was held at ATELIER MUJI GINZA in Ginza to celebrate the 10th anniversary the other day. I would have loved to drop by if it was close by.

Now, a search on J-PlatPat shows that there are 94 trademarks that hit the keyword “mujirushi ryouhin”. All of them are already registered. A search for the company name “Ryohin Keikaku” shows 224 trademarks, 368 designs, and 40 patents and utility models, indicating that the company is making extensive use of intellectual property.

Fuku-Can and Good Luck Charms

The photo shows the lucky charms that were included in last year’s and this year’s Fuku-Can. (I bought two of each).
From left to right, Kyoto City’s “Kyoto Ceramic Doll Koban (Ox),” Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture’s “Fukutaro,” Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture’s “Oku Hariko (Tiger),” and Tamana County, Kumamoto Prefecture’s “Mud Mask (4 pieces).
The cans can also be used as pen holders, and I’m sure I’ll be collecting them every year♪ (Cacao)

CREATIVE IMAGINATION| ATELIER MUJI | 無印良品

Importance of checking properly

  • 2021年10月13日

#copyright #intellectual property

I saw illustrations in which the interesting image processing application was used, were shared on SNS that I use personally. The app is free to use and looks very fun so I wanted to try and use it. However, when I looked at the privacy section of the application store and the reputation on the internet, the terms said that the copyright, intellectual property rights, other rights of the pictures and images you drew are given to the sales company and the affiliated companies of the app so I decided not to download it.

This kind of wording can be seen in other apps, and it may be an unnecessary worry, but I think it’s best to be careful because the data you created may be used by third parties. (Swimmer)

Center Test (the Common Test for University Admissions) and Intellectual Property

  • 2021年07月07日

#intellectual property

Is knowledge of intellectual property useful for college entrance exams? In the modern society of the 2020 Center Test, there was a question 5 of the 4th question section to select the most appropriate description of the concept and legal system related to modern information and communication technology from four options. It was something like this:
“③ In Japan, there is no court specializing in cases related to intellectual property.”
Since Japan has the Intellectual Property High Court (established in 2005), this option is incorrect.

In a high school “information” textbook, in the section “Law in the Information Society” in the chapter “Society Supported by Information Systems”, industrial property rights (patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, and trademark rights) and an overview of copyright are given. “Information” is not an examination subject at present, but in March this year, it was announced that “Information” will be added to the subjects of the Center Test in 2025 and onwards.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210324/k10012933181000.html (Japanese Only)

This may increase the interest of general high school students in intellectual property rights to some extent. However, in the “Information” sample questions presented by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, basic communication knowledge, programming, and statistical processing questions are selected. In common tests, where the ability to think is more important than memorizing knowledge, it seems that the possibility of intellectual property rights knowledge questions being selected is basically low. However, if public interest in intellectual property increases depending on national policies, the tendency to ask questions may also be affected. (Conan)

Anniversary associated with Intellectual Property

  • 2021年03月24日

#intellectual property #patent #patent attorney

The theme is “Introduction to Intellectual Property”, but today I would like to introduce anniversaries related to intellectual property.
First, I would like to ask you a question. How many do you know?

April 18, Invention Day (Japan)
April 23, World Book Day / Copyright Day (UNESCO)
April 26, World Intellectual Property Day (World Intellectual Property Organization)
July 1, Patent Attorney’s Day (Japan)
July 22, Copyright System Day (Japan)
August 1, Aichi Invention Day (Aichi Prefecture)
August 14, Exclusive Patent Day (Japan)
November 18, Music Copyright Day (Japan)

It seems that there are many anniversaries in April and the hot season for some reason. Looking overseas, there is Inventor’s Day. In the United States, for example, Thomas Edison’s birthday is Inventor’s Day.

April is coming soon. This year too, the day of invention, the day of world intellectual property rights, will come. In Japan, every year, one week including Invention Day is designated as Science and Technology Week. It may be a good idea to think about inventions and science in this season when the weather is getting better. (blink)

Related URL
Invention Day (April 18) (Japanese)
World Book and Copyright Day (April 23)
Saint George’s Day (April 23, reference)
Children’s Reading Day (April 23, reference) (Japanese)
World Intellectual Property Day (April 26)
Patent Attorney’s Day (July 1) (Japanese)
Copyright System Day (July 22) (Japanese)
Aichi Invention Day (August 1) (Japanese)
Exclusive Patent Day (August 14) (Japanese)
Music Copyright Day (November 18)
Inventor’s Day
Science and Technology Week (Japanese)

Work experience at a patent office

  • 2021年03月19日

#intellectual property #patent #patent attorney

At KidZania Tokyo, where children can experience work, “patent office” will open for a limited time!
This is a limited event from March 19th to 25th during “Patent Attorneys Week” held by the Japan Patent Attorneys Association and the planning and management company of KidZania.
It will be the first time that a work experience of a “patent attorney” has appeared in KidZania.
Participant will become a “patent attorney”, receive a request from the “invention workshop”, create patent application documents as an agent, and confirm the examination result at the “patent office satellite office”. A registration certificate will be issued, and the participant can take it home as a deliverable.
As a person working at a patent firm, I hope that children will have fun learning about intellectual property and the role of patent attorneys. (Cacao)

＜Reference Website＞
KidZania Tokyo news page (translated into English)
KidZania Tokyo Official Site｜A Real City for Kids! (English)

Muscle Training with Power Ball

  • 2020年11月11日

#intellectual property #patent #utility model

There have been less opportunities to do exercise or muscle training, I purchased an easy-to-use training equipment.
It is called a “Power Ball” or “Wrist Ball” and is used by holding with one hand.

It has a double structure of a ball and an outer ball that wraps it, and after winding a power spring to start the ball, turning the wrist to match the rotation of the ball will increase the number of rotations of the ball. , The gyro effect creates a force that causes the outer ball to move. By countering that force, you can strengthen your muscles.

Depending on how you hold it, you can train from your fingertips to your upper arm, but unlike training equipment such as dumbbells, you can train without overloading your muscles. Because it is small, there is no need to worry about the storage space. There is also a function to change the color and emit light according to the number of rotations, and to display the number of rotations and rotation speed.

When I opened the attached instruction manual, there was the word “patent”.

I haven’t seen many products with numbers lined up by country. It seems that 3 cases are registered in Japan. When I searched for Japanese numbers on J-PatPat, all three were registered as utility models. (Syszo)

What is intellectual property?

  • 2020年07月16日

#intellectual property #patent #trademark

Many people may have heard the words “patent” and “trademark”, but I think not many people actually get a sense of “intellectual property”. On the Japan Patent Attorneys Association website (https://www.jpaa.or.jp/intellectual-property/), intellectual property is explained; “For ideas and creations created by human intellectual activities, there is something that has a wealth of value, and those things are collectively called “intellectual property.” Patents and trademarks are included in intellectual property.
If you are interested, please see the link above for more detailed explanations with examples. (Runner)

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