Japanese trademark law provides that a trademark that consists solely of a mark indicating, in a common manner, in the case of goods, the place of origin, place of sale, quality, raw materials, efficacy, intended purpose, quantity, shape (including shape of packages), price, method or time of production or use, or, in the case of services, location of provision, quality, articles to be used in such provision, efficacy, intended purpose, quantity, modes, price or method or time of provision is unregistrable. Also, Japanese trademark law provides that if a trademark is likely to mislead as to the quality of the goods or services, such a trademark is unregistrable.

The trademark “INDIAN ROSE” was rejected in the examination stage. The examiner asserted that the word “INDIAN” means “of India”, “Indian nationals” and “made in India”, that “ROSE” means “rose flowers” and that both words are familiar in Japan. Thus, “INDIAN ROSE” means readily “roses of India” and/or “roses made in India” with regard to the designated goods “shampoos made from Indian-grown roses, essential oils made from Indian-grown roses” in class 3, for example, and so the trademark is unregistrable.

The applicant deleted all the designated goods in class 3 after issuance of the decision of rejection. In addition, the appeal examiners did not find that the trademark “INDIAN ROSE” has been used generally to indicate quality.

Thus, the appeal examiners concluded that the trademark “INDIAN ROSE” is distinctive with regard to the remaining designated goods in classes 18 and 25, and is unlikely to mislead as to the quality of the goods.