Monster Energy Takes on Pokémon, Monster Musume’s Trademarks in Japan, It Wasn’t Very Effective

 

The last week has seen global energy drink company Monster Energy be outed as a trademark litigator against anything with the whiff of the word “monster” in it, including games that were released decades before Monster Energy started destroying the circadian rhythms of college students around the world. While this saw some games change their names, in Japan, Monster Energy hasn’t been as fruitful.

 

Japanese website Automation Media revealed that Monster Energy opposed the trademarks for two Pokémon games, Pokémon X and Y and Pokémon Sun and Moon, opposing the “monster” portion of “Pocket Monsters,” the name the franchise has had in Japan since 1997. According to the public registrar of trademarks and patents in Japan, J-PlatPlat, these oppositions failed and Pokémon was able to keep these trademarks.

 

But it wasn’t just Pokémon, Monster Hunter and Monster Strike that Monster Energy opposed, it was also the hit manga and anime series Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls, whereupon many aspects of a multimedia franchise, Monster Energy opposed the use of the trademark on futons, cute anime figures and body pillows. Yes, including that seven-meter-long pillow of Miia.

 

RELATED: Nintendo and Game Freak Try to Catch the Pokémon Type Trademarks in Japan

 

Though most of the opposition from Monster Energy failed, the beverage company continued to file, with the latest in Japan being against SEGA’s Neon Monster line, Monster Strike’s MonStore online shop and a candy known as Monster Nuts. 

 

Ironically, when Monster Energy first entered the Japanese market, the drink company actually had it is first filling of the classic “m” logo provisionally refused due to being too similar to another product in the same category as the trademark filing and had to amend their application before it was approved.

 

You can see all the oppositions from Monster Energy Japan over on J-PlatPlat’s website which show the beverage company trying to change the names of companies in multiple different industries.

 

Sources: Automation Media, J-PlatPlat

 

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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.