In a recent trademark opposition, the Opposition Board of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) held a junior trademark registration no. 6041076 for word mark “LunaSoir” is dissimilar to a senior IR registration no. 845029 for word mark “SOIR DE LUNE”, one of fragrance brands by SISLEY, a French producer of cosmetics and fragrances, even when used on fragrance in class 3
[Opposition case no. 2018-900194, Gazette issue date: July 26, 2019]
LunaSoir
Opposed mark (see below) was applied for registration on July 31, 2017 by designating soaps, perfumery, cosmetics and others in class, and published for registration on June 5, 2018 without any office action from the JPO examiner.
SISLEY – SOIR DE LUNE
Opponent, SISLEY, a French producer of cosmetics and fragrances, claimed that the opposed mark “LunaSoir” shall be cancelled under Article 4(1)(xi) of the Japan Trademark Law by citing a senior trademark registration for word mark “SOIR DE LUNE”covering soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions, dentifrices in class 3.
Article 4(1)(xi) is a provision to prohibit from registering a junior mark which is deemed identical with, or similar to, any senior registered mark.
SISLEY argued both marks give rise to a same meaning of “moon night” given “Luna” and “LUNE mean “moon” in Latin and French respectively, “SOIR” means “night” in French, and “DE” corresponds to “of” in English. If so, both marks are likely to cause confusion from a conceptual point of view.
Board Decision
In the decision, the Board decided that “LunaSoir” and “SOIR DE LUNA” are both dissimilar in appearance, pronunciation as well as concept.
The Board assessed, by taking into consideration a relatively low level of knowledge to Latin and French language among relevant consumers with an ordinary care, opposed mark consisting of “Luna” and “Soir” would not give rise to any specific meaning at all.
Based on the fact finding, the Board concluded that opposed mark “LunaSoir” is obviously dissimilar to SISLEY’s fragrance brand “SOIR DE LUNE” from concept, needless to say appearance and pronunciation.
It is noteworthy to a brand owner from non-English speaking nations that conceptual similarity would not play a defensive role to prevent free-riding and enjoy a broader scope of protection against use by others where the brand contains a non-English term unfamiliar to Japanese.