Date of
Judgment: January 23, 1986
Issuing
Authority:
Supreme Court
Level of
the Issuing Authority: Final Instance
Type of
Procedure: Judicial(Administrative)
Subject
Matter:
Trademarks
Main
text of the judgment (decision):
1.The final appeal of the present case
shall be dismissed.
2.Appellant shall bear the cost of the final appeal.
Reasons:
Regarding Reasons No. 1 through No. 3
for the final appeal according to Appellant's attorneys, ●●●●, ●●●●, ●●●●,
and ●●●●.
In order to consider that a trademark
pertaining to an application for trademark registration falls under a
"trademark consisting solely of a mark indicating, in a common manner, in
the case of goods, the place of origin or place of sale" as stipulated in
Article 3, paragraph (1), item (iii) of the Trademark Act, the designated goods
do not necessarily have to be actually produced or sold in the land or place
indicated by the trademark, and it is sufficient if consumers or traders
generally recognize that the designated goods are likely produced or sold in
the land or place indicated by the trademark. Under the fact situation lawfully
confirmed in the trial of the prior instance, it is acknowledged that consumers
or traders coming in contact with the trademark, "GEORGIA",
pertaining to the Application for trademark registration would generally
recognize that the designated goods of coffee, coffee drinks, and the like, are
produced in the land of Georgia in the USA, so that it should be said that the
above trademark falls under the trademark stipulated in Article 3, paragraph
(1), item (iii) of the Trademark Act. The judgment of the court of prior
instance, whose purport is the same as the above, can be approved as
justifiable, and there is no illegality with the process, as per the asserted
opinion. The gist of the argument is merely one which, put plainly, argues that
the judgment in prior instance is illegal from a perspective that is different
from the above, and cannot be accepted. Regarding Reason No. 4 for the final
appeal.
In light of the evidence listed in the
judgment in prior instance, the finding and judgment of the court of the prior
instance pertaining to the points made in the asserted opinion can be approved
as justifiable, and there is no illegality in the process, as per the asserted
opinion. The gist of the argument is merely one which, put plainly, attacks the
rejection or adoption of evidence, and the fact finding, which belong to the
exclusive right of the court of the prior instance, and cannot be accepted.
Therefore, the judgment of this court
is rendered unanimously by all judges, as per the main text, by application of
Articles 401, 95, and 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(This translation is
provisional and subject to revision.)