Menace over the use of ‘jandal’ trademark
An online retailer in New Zealand selling jandals has been surprised by an infringement letter from lawyers informing him that the word ‘jandal’ was trademarked. Jandal is the common word used in New Zealand for ‘slippers’.
The company director Chris Atkins said that they received a lawyer’s cease and desist letter on Tuesday informing them they were violating a trademark by calling them ‘jandals’.
Mr Atkins said they have been asked to remove all references to ‘jandals’ on the website immediately or face legal consequence.
“Like most Kiwis I guess we just thought jandals were a common word like T-shirts or hoodie. It’s a massive surprise to us, and we’ve got fifty thousand people on Facebook and it’s a huge surprise to everyone that’s commented.”
The online discount apparel store, lastseason.co.nz are now considering other possible names for jandals like ‘thongs’ or ‘flip-flops’.
Trademark Registration in Japan
Patent Attorney：Hiroshi Oogai
Address：304 BUREX Hirakawacho 1-5-15 Hirakawa-cho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone：＋81-3-4570-0792
Mail：contact @ trademark-registration-japan.com
