Wine in class 33

Providing foods and beverages in class 43

The applied-for-trademark consists of letter string “COOL WINE” in standard characters. “COOL” means “somewhat cold; chilled; great; etc.” “WINE” means “an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice; etc.”
Thus, we cannot say that a specific meaning can be recognized from the applied-for-trademark, even though several meanings such as “cold wine”, “chilled wine”, “great wine”, etc. can be associated with from the applied-for-trademark as a whole in relation to the designated goods/services. We also cannot say that the applied-for-trademark can be recognized and grasped as indication of the quality of goods/services in relation to the designated goods/services.

In addition, the Appeal Examiners did not find that “COOL WINE” and “COOLWINE in katakana” have been commonly used in trading to indicate the quality of goods/services in the field of the designated goods/services through ex-officio searches. Furthermore, the Appeal Examiners did not find any circumstances to determine that traders and consumers should perceive “COOL WINE” and “COOLWINE in katakana” as indications of the quality of the goods/services.

With the above in mind, it is unreasonable to say that the applied-for-trademark indicates the quality of the designated goods/services in a common manner and that it misleads as to the quality of the goods/services.

Thus, the applied-for-trademark should be registered.

The applicant recited the following earlier registered trademarks containing “COOL” and contended that it is presumable that the earlier trademarks were registered because “COOL” has various meanings and because it is unclear what kind of things, quality, contents, etc. are indicated by the earlier trademarks as a whole, and argued that the applied-for-trademark should be registered as well:

– JP Reg. No. 6040069 “COOL RICE” in Classes 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33
– JP Reg. No. 6142926 “COOL VEGE” in Classes 29, 30, 31, and 33

etc.