The rights holder of “Monster Energy” has filed oppositions to the registration of various trademarks, including the name “Monster,” in Japan in the past. You can check it on the patent information platform J-PlatPat. Yesterday, we reported that an overseas horror game developer has received a request to change the title from the rights holder of “Monster Energy” (related article). After the article was published, information provided by readers and our investigation revealed that the rights holders of “Monster Energy” filed trademark objections to various games.
Monster Energy is an energy drink. It is manufactured and sold by Monster Beverage in the US (manufactured and sold by Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd. in Japan). The company and drink are closely related to the game industry, such as sponsoring game-related events, organizations, and streamers.
It seems that the rights holder of such Monster Energy has requested the Patent Office to cancel the trademark registration for various trademarks bearing the name “Monster” in Japan in the past.J-PlatPatAt this point, the complainant can confirm 134 complaints against Monster Energy Company. Multiple games with monsters in the title also fall under this category. Popular titles such as “Pokemon” and “Monster Hunter” are also included.
In the “Pocket Monster” series, “Pocket Monster X/Y” and “Pocket Monster Sun/Moon” are eligible. In the “Monster Hunter” series, in addition to “Monster Hunter Cross”, the trademark of “Monster Hunter” itself has also been challenged. For example, in “Pocket Monsters X and Y”, the following claims are made (partially quoted from J-PlatPat):
(2) In the structure of the Trademark, the character part of “Pocket Monster” that is conspicuously displayed can function as an independent product identification sign. In commercial transactions that aim to be simple and quick, it is difficult to say that this is always seen as an integral part, and the character part of “pocket” or “monster” independently functions to identify one’s own goods and others. have.
As a result, in the Trademark, the pronunciation of “monster” and the concept of “monster, monster, monster” arise from the character part of “monster.”
In the opposition, as mentioned above, it is argued that the concept of “monster, monster, monster” arises from the name “pocket monster.” He explained that it matches the MONSTER (Monster Energy) family trademark in that it has the word “Monster”. Consumers who come into contact with the “Pocket Monsters X/Y” trademark may mistakenly believe that it is one of the trademarks of the MONSTER family, or mistakenly believe that the product concerned is a product of the business of a person who has some kind of relationship with the complainant. , it is argued that there is a risk of confusion as to the origin of the goods.
Monster Energy Company is also challenging the trademark of the smartphone app “Monster Strike”. Furthermore, we filed an objection to the abbreviated “Monst” trademark. The reason is that it is intuitively perceived as an abbreviation (of “Monster Strike”), and it is easy to assume that consumers’ attention and admiration will be attracted to the first part of the official name, “Monster”. An explanation is provided. In addition, since the first three letters and the first three sounds of “monsu” are shared with “monster”, it is claimed that it is similar in appearance and name to “monster”. It has been argued that such judgments “may lead to confusion as to the origin of the goods.”
Furthermore, Monster’s name isn’t the only thing Monster Energy Company has challenged. An opposition to the registration of the trademark of the logo mark was also filed on the grounds that it resembled the “M” logo mark in the form of a claw mark. Multiple trademarks, including the logo of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Designs like claw marks and logos with an M motif are targeted.
The trademark registration opposition to the Toronto Raptors logo mark also causes confusion as to the source of the product by misleading consumers into believing that the product is handled by a person who has an economic or organizational relationship with Monster Energy Company. It has been argued that there is a high risk of The Toronto Raptors logo is also being filed against the trademark registration in the United States by the Monster Energy Company.
In response to Monster Energy’s objection to registration, the JPO concluded that “there is no risk of causing confusion as to the origin of the product,” and that the registration of the trademark would be maintained in both cases. At the time of writing this article, a large number of objections by “Monster Energy Company” and its former name “Hansen Beverage Company”, which can be confirmed on J-PlatPat, have not been accepted, and the trademark registration has been maintained.
Monster Energy Company has filed objections against trademark registrations including “Monster” overseas. In the past, he also filed an objection to the trademark registration of Ubisoft’s “Gods & Monsters” (related article). The title of the work was changed as a result. In addition, a representative from the developer of the indie horror game Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals recently revealed that they are in a dispute with Monster Energy Company over the title “Monsters”. In addition to filing objections against trademark registrations to administrative agencies, there are also cases of disputes between parties over trademark rights.
There are many trademarks in Japan that include “Monster” or “monster” in their names. Although Monster Energy Company has filed numerous objections to such trademarks in the past, none of these objections have been granted by the Patent Office at the time of writing. The latest opposition published on J-PlatPat was decided by the Patent Office on November 17, 2022. Even in Japan, it seems that they have not changed their attitude of not accepting “monster” or similar names even recently.
