On April 1, 2024 the Japanese trademark office set about accepting Letters of Consent for coexistence of identical or similar trademarks in the Register. Another important change to Japan’s trademark act is in relaxing its absolute nature of refusal of trademarks containing full names (surnames and given names) of living individuals anywhere in the world.

Article 4(1)(viii) of the Trademark Act until March 31, 2024 read as follows:

Article 4(1) - Unregistrable Trademarks

Notwithstanding the preceding Article, no trademark may be registered

if the trademark:

(viii) contains the portrait of another person, or the name, well-known

pseudonym, professional name or pen name of another person, or

well-known abbreviation thereof (except those the registration of

whichhas been approved by the person concerned);

This ground for refusal is meant to protect individuals’ right to control how their names are used. If your trademark includes the name of a living individual, it could only be registered with the written consent of that individual. The law did not stipulate that the name had to be one that identifies a particular individual. As it happens, I know many people with exactly the same full name as mine but would find it impractical to ask all of them to provide consent to registration of my name as a trademark.