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BRAND MEMES

GUCCI lost a trademark baEtle

with CUGGL in Japan
By Zachary M. Seward
Editor-in-chief of Quartz

Published August 23, 2022

Last year, Nobuaki Kurokawa was granted a

trademark in Japan for the seemingly innocuous
brand name CUGGL, to use on apparel. But when the
mark made its fashion debut, only half of it was
visible:
MARKS IP LAW FIRM

CUGGL

Italian fashion house Gucci, which usually renders

itself in an all caps serif font not unlike Kurokawa’s
t-shirts and is famously protective of its brand, tried
to get the trademark canceled. Gucci argued
customers would be confused by the half-obscured
CUGGL shirts, devaluing its own trademark and
brand.

But the Japan Patent Office (JPO) concluded that

GUCCI and CUGGL were sufficiently distinct,
according to a summary by a law firm not involved
in the case. It dismissed Gucci’s trademark claim last
month.

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Gucci, which didn’t respond to a request for

comment, is expected to appeal the decision.
Kurokawa could not be reached for comment, but he
appears to just be getting started, according to a
review of his filings with the JPO.

Here’s a selection of his other successful trademark

applications—try to guess the famous brand being
referenced:
JAPAN PATENT OFFICE

GUANFI
JAPAN PATENT OFFICE

azides
JAPAN PATENT OFFICE

papagorira

And here are a few trademark applications by

Kurokawa that are still pending with the JPO, in case
corporate IP lawyers want to get a head start:
JAPAN PATENT OFFICE

Nyanpion
JAPAN PATENT OFFICE

SHIBA
JAPAN PATENT OFFICE

BAIFNGLACA

The ruling against Gucci in Japan is a surprising win

for intellectual-property progressives who argue
that companies have distorted the law to block
harmless parodies and other remixes of their brands.
“Among the world’s five biggest patent offices
(including the US, Korea, China, and Europe), [Japan]
runs the fastest examinations,” Leo Lewis wrote in
the Financial Times. “It has done this, in part, by
accepting that, sometimes, the public is not
confused by parody.”

Were you confused by any of these parodies? The

brands influencing Kurokawa’s trademarks and
trademark applications in this story are (top to
bottom) Gucci, Chanel, Adidas, Patagonia,
Champion, Puma, and Balenciaga.

Kick o2f each morning with co2fee and the

Daily Brief (BYO co2fee).

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