A race to the finish

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) examiner refused to approve the application, saying in part that: “The trademark in the present application represents the letters ‘PRC’ in a manner that does not go beyond a manner that is commonly used, and that according to the Gendai-yogo-no-kisochishiki 2014 (Basic Knowledge of Current Terms 2014), published by Jiyukokuminsha, the letters concerned refer to an abbreviated representation of the name People’s Republic of China, and therefore a meaning close to ‘product made in China’ is recognised from these letters taken together.