Japan court rules old yakitori 'noren-wake' ties don't override trademark rights
By Toko Sekiguchi ( May 18, 2026, 08:32 GMT | Insight) -- Japan’s Osaka District Court ordered a Fukuoka yakitori restaurant operator to stop using the “Maruman” name and pay more than 60 million yen ($380,000) in damages to Miyazaki-based Maruman Honpo, rejecting defenses rooted in a decades-old informal “noren-wake” relationship and reinforcing the importance of formal trademark ownership in restaurant branding disputes.Japan’s Osaka District Court ordered a Fukuoka yakitori restaurant operator to stop using the “Maruman” name and pay more than 60 million yen ($380,000) in damages to Miyazaki-based Maruman Honpo, rejecting defenses rooted in a decades-old informal “noren-wake” relationship and reinforcing the importance of formal trademark ownership in restaurant branding disputes....
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