Understanding Japanese Trademark Practice: “Group Codes” for Assessing Similarity of Goods and Services

1. What are Group Codes?

When you file a trademark application in Japan and a prior trademark is cited against it, you might hear the term “Group Codes.” This is a unique system used to assess the similarity of goods and services designated in a trademark application or registration in Japan. These codes are not legally defined in the Trademark Act; rather, they are a practical, administrative tool created and used internally by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) to classify goods and services. Essentially, goods and services with the same Group Codes are presumed to be similar. All trademark practitioners in Japan rely heavily on these codes when assessing the similarity of goods and services.

2. Examples of Group Codes

The JPO’s examination standards for similar goods and services, as well as its publicly accessible database “J-PlatPat” contains a large list of commonly used and acceptable descriptions of goods and services, along with their corresponding Group Codes. Here are a few examples of typical descriptions and their Group Codes in parentheses:

• Class 2: Ink cartridges, filled, for facsimile machines (11B01)
• Class 9: Smartphones (11B01, 11C01)
• Class 9: Computer software (11C01)

“Ink cartridges, filled, for facsimile machines” in Class 2 and “smartphones” in Class 9 both have Group Code 11B01, so they are considered similar goods despite being in different classes. “Smartphones” (11B01, 11C01) are considered similar to both “ink cartridges, filled, for facsimile machines” (11B01) and “computer software” (11C01). However, “ink cartridges, filled, for facsimile machines” (11B01) and “computer software” (11C01) are considered dissimilar to each other.

3. Exceptions

The JPO prioritizes swift and uniform examinations, so the similarity of goods and services is determined fairly automatically based on whether the Group Codes are the same, especially during the examination stage. On the other hand, for some goods and services, the JPO’s examination standards provide explicit exceptions to the Group Code analysis. These exceptions are considered mainly in cases where an opposition or invalidation trial is filed. It is also possible to argue that goods and/or services are dissimilar (or similar) despite having the same (or different) Group Codes, based on the general circumstances surrounding them.

4. Comments

The Group Codes are updated at the beginning of every year, and the new version is applied to all newly filed applications for that year. To accurately analyze how to avoid or overcome prior applications or registrations and obtain the best result for your application, it is important to understand the applicable Group Codes and their exceptions under the JPO’s current practice.