High School Girl® meat products?
February 6, 2008
Meat product manufacturer Ito Ham has taken the Japanese schoolgirl obsession to the next level by applying for the trademark rights to the word “High School Girl” (女子高生/Joshi-Kosei).
A pair of trademark applications (via the INPIT database) indicate that Ito Ham is planning a line of High School Girl® meat products, including meat pies, gyoza dumplings, pizza, curry and more. Either that, or someone in the office is just having fun.
Given that “high school girl” is a commonly used phrase, it seems unlikely — though not impossible — that the Japan Patent Office would grant a trademark registration. One thing’s for sure, though: if the company could manage to remove the word from the public domain, license it and charge royalties for its use, they will be sitting on a gold mine worth more than any meat product out there.
[Source: CNET Japan via Slashdot Japan]
