"Made in Japan" May Be Trademarked Soon

[rugrats1]

Soon, HK DVD companies will have a new challenge on their hands, as the Japanese media industry is requesting that the phrase "Made In Japan" becomes a trademark, according to the Mainichi Daily News (via Arctic Nightfall):

An Anime and video game contents industry body is poised to introduce a "Made in Japan" trademark in a bid to allow law enforcers to crack down on pirates infringing on the copyright, officials said.

Anime and video game producers will affix a "Made in Japan" trademark, which will be set by the Organization for Promotion of Overseas Distribution of Contents, to their packages.

The organization's government regulator, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, intends to gather information on piracy overseas and urge the governments of foreign countries to crack down on pirates in a bid to support the organization's efforts.

The organization comprises 17 software, movie and other contents industry bodies and 21 computer software and video game companies including Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and Nintendo Co.

The Organization for Promotion of Overseas Distribution of Contents will register its "Made in Japan" trademark with the patent agencies of Japan and other Asian countries. Member companies are supposed to affix the seal to the packages of their products to make it easy to distinguish genuine products from pirated ones.

Moreover, the organization will take measures to prevent pirates from counterfeiting the trademark.

Japanese anime, films and other contents are popular in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and other Asian countries.

However, a massive number of pirated contents are circulating in the markets of these countries because law enforcers have not sufficiently clamped down on pirates. About 2.1 trillion yen worth of pirated contents are sold in China each year, while about 140 billion yen worth of counterfeited contents are sold in both Hong Kong and Taiwanese markets, according to the Copyright Research and Information Center.

It has so far been difficult for individual companies to implement preventive measures in each country. However, the introduction of a "Made in Japan" trademark will enable the Organization for Promotion of Overseas Distribution of Contents to issue warnings to pirates and sue counterfeiters for infringing on the trademark.

To support the move, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is urging the government of Asian countries in talks on free trade agreements to enact legislation on anti-pirating measures and crack down on counterfeiters.

The semi-governmental Japan External Trade Organization is set to assign an expert in anti-pirating measures each to its Beijing and Shanghai offices this coming autumn in a bid to gather information on pirating.

[Zagatto]

That has to be one of the stupidest things I've heard of since Bush was elected to the White House.

It will never happen in North America (I don't know what the Trademark laws are over seas though so I'm not going to comment on those).

To register a Trademark, the word or phrase has to be closely associated with a particular company. It's very hard for a company to reach the sort of saturation levels in media to get people to make that sort of association.
It's easier if include a brand name like with the phrase "Coke is it". But think about something like the phrase "Just Do It". I don't even have to name that brand and most people in here will know what company I'm talking about.
Now think about "Made in Japan". What company would that trademark apply to? A country can't apply for a trademark on behalf of a single industry. Think about electronics or clothing or cars that are made in Japan. If the media industry successfully trademarked "Made in Japan" that would mean that none of those other industries would be allowed to use that phrase in any advertising or even stamp it on their products.

T'aint gonna happen...

hruf lub lub lub wakka unch

[Vicious]

Originally posted by Zagatto
But think about something like the phrase "Just Do It". I don't even have to name that brand and most people in here will know what company I'm talking about.

Ummmm . . . Trojan condoms. :p