We are a boutique IP firm located in Osaka, Japan, specializing in trademark, design, specific unfair competition and copyright matters.

Bottom line: The Board found that highly stylized SORA is distinguishable from SORA.

The applicant filed an application for stylized SORA shown below designating bags and clothing.  The examiner refused to register the mark, citing two prior registrations for SORA designating retail/wholesale services for clothing and one prior registration for SORA in Chinese character and hiragana designating bags.

<Applied-for mark>

The Board acknowledged that the applied-for mark and the cited marks share the identical sound [so-ra], but in view of the significant visual difference, the marks are not confusingly similar in appearance.  Further, the applied-for mark does not bear any particular meaning and thus the marks are not comparable semantically.  Overall, the Board noted that the applied-for mark gives significantly different impression, recollection and association from the cited marks and concluded that the applied-for mark is not confusingly similar to any of the cited marks.

And so the Board reversed the refusal.