Patent Office Rejects ‘Ina Bauer’ Drink
Asahi Breweries has attempted to name a drink after the Ina Bauer, a figure skating move that became very famous in Japan recently as a part of Shizuka Arakawa’s gold medal performance in t 2006 Olympics. However, Japan’s patent office :has rejected their application
“Such behavior to capitalize on the fame of Ms Arakawa would offend public order and morals,” a Patent Office official said, adding no approval has been obtained from German figure skater Ina Bauer, the inventor of the move. Asahi filed the trademark registration application in March last year. In addition to Asahi, 12 other companies had filed applications to use Ina Bauer as a product name, according to the Patent Office. All have been turned down.
Another threat to public order and morals has has been removed. Don’t you feel safer?
