Episode 17

Intangible property rights (intellectual property rights) include rights to creations that are the result of human mental activity and rights to goodwill (Basic Jurisprudence 3: Property, p. 281, "Intangible Property Rights" by Nakayama Nobuhiro).
 Creations that are the result of human mental activity include patent rights, utility model rights, and design rights. Rights to goodwill include trademark rights.
 Unlike patent rights, etc., infringers can avoid liability for damages by asserting and proving that no damages were caused as a defense against claims for damages from trademark holders based on Article 38, paragraph 2 of the Trademark Act (Supreme Court, 1994 (O) No. 1102, 3rd Petty Bench Judgment, March 11, 1997, Minshu Vol. 51, No. 3, p. 1055).
 In other words, trademark rights do not protect the trademark itself, but the goodwill embodied in the trademark, so even if a trademark is registered, that alone does not allow the rights to be exercised. The Supreme Court has the following commentary on this matter:
 "Rights such as patent rights and utility model rights must be considered differently from trademark rights. In other words, patent rights and utility model rights themselves have creative value, and the infringing goods utilize the patent rights in their performance, utility, etc., so a portion of the sales of the infringing goods necessarily corresponds to the value of the patent rights. Furthermore, the sale of an infringing product means that there is a demand for products that implement the patent rights, and the fact that infringing goods are being sold in the first place can be said to mean that there is a demand for the establishment of licenses to the patent rights.
 In contrast, trademark rights do not have creative value in themselves, and only have a certain value when linked to the business credit of the company or other entity from which the product originates. In other words, the fact that a product bearing a trademark is sold does not immediately mean that the trademark has contributed to sales, nor does the sale of a product mean that there is a demand for a license to use the trademark." (Same judgment, Supreme Court Case Commentary, Civil Cases, 1997 (Part 1) (Page 370)
Trademark rights cannot be exercised unless two requirements are met: the trademark is registered with the Patent Office, and the trademark is actually in use and has established goodwill in the business.