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Japan Today
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Today
The shape of Pocky is now legally trademarked in Japan
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 Every box of Pocky has a picture of the chocolate-covered pretzel sticks on it, but you could make the argument that it's sort of redundant. In the 59 years that it's been on the market, Pocky has become one of Japan's most beloved sweet snacks, and you'd have a hard time finding someone in the country who doesn't know what it looks like. That familiarity runs in the opposite direction as well. Show someone a Pocky stick, outside of its packaging and with the product name nowhere in sight, and the vast majority of people in Japan will still be able to tell you, without hesitation 'That's Pocky.' That's been statistically proven, too. In 2023, Pocky manufacturer Glico conducted a survey of 1,036 people in Japan, between the ages of 16 and 79, and more than 90 percent could identify Pocky just by its shape. Emboldened by those results, Glico went on to apply for an official, legal trademark for the shape of Pocky, and it's now been granted one by the Japanese government. This sort of status, referred to as a 3D trademark, isn't easy for a food product to obtain. The category is more commonly used for things such as characters or packaging with a uniquely defining shape, which is why you can't go out and start selling plushies that are an exact match for Mickey Mouse or bottle your upstart soda in bottles that are precisely the same as Coca-Cola's. The hurdle for food items to obtain 3D trademarks is especially high, though, given that their shapes are sometimes simply the natural result of a necessary cooking process, not something purposely created by design. Nevertheless, Glico was able to sufficiently convince Japan's trademark authorities that Pocky's shape is distinct and defining to the extent that the product can be sufficiently identified by its shape alone. The trademark was granted on July 25, though Glico didn't put out a press release until August. Ostensibly, this would give Glico the power to block the sale of snacks with the same shape as Pocky from other companies. Following the acquisition of the trademark, a representative for Glico said 'Moving forward, we will continue to appropriately protect and utilize our trademarks in order to develop and nurture this brand which has been loved for so long.' How much this will actually change the landscape of store snack shelves in Japan remains to be seen. With Pocky being popular with fans of Japanese pop culture, and delicious things in general, around the world, there are obvious imitators available in other countries. However, with Pocky's 3-D trademark being granted by the Japanese government, it doesn't really give Glico any significant leverage in halting the sale of copycat snacks overseas, though it would, in theory, bar such products from being imported into and sold in Japan. Among products regularly sold in the Japanese domestic market, Pocky doesn't have any exact imitators. The closest facsimile is Toppo, made by competitor Lotte, but its shape has contours that Pocky doesn't, and Toppo are pretzel sticks that are filled with chocolate, not covered in it, which also gives them a different shape. Oddly enough, it's debatable whether or not the 3D trademark for Pocky would apply to the brand's own coconut flavor, since its crunchy coconut shavings mean it doesn't conform to the standard 'Pocky shape.' But regardless of how exactly Glico is planning to use Pocky's 3D trademark, it really does have one now. Source: PR Times, NHK News Web Insert images: PR Times, Glico Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Taste testing popular Korean and Japanese snacks that look similar: Pocky vs. Pepero -- New limited edition blue, heart-shaped Pocky designed for maximum happiness -- Handsome Pocky Boy anime designs are Japan's newest anthropomorphized sweets External Link © SoraNews24
NDTV
30-06-2025
- NDTV
13-Year-Old Girl Fakes Own Kidnapping, Leaves Rs 15 Lakh Ransom Note: Cops
Bhopal: A 13-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur staged her own kidnapping and left behind a fake ransom note demanding Rs 15 lakh - all because she was upset with her mother's scolding over using a mobile phone, talking to friends, and applying lipstick. The incident occurred in Priyadarshini Colony, under Khamaria police station limits, when the girl's mother returned home and found a handwritten note in her daughter's room. The note read: "Your daughter is with us. If you want her safe and sound, arrange Rs 15 lakh. If you inform the police, the consequences will be bad." Panic-stricken, the family immediately informed the Khamaria police. Given the sensitive nature of the case, especially involving a minor, police across Jabalpur to Bhopal were alerted and a search operation was launched. CCTV footage from nearby areas was reviewed. During the investigation, a local auto-rickshaw driver informed police that he had dropped off a girl matching the description near the Sadar area. Acting swiftly, police combed through the locality and, after nearly five hours of search, the girl was found wandering in Lane No. 7 of Sadar. To everyone's surprise, the girl confessed that she was not kidnapped. In fact, she had planned the entire incident to escape her daily scoldings. She had even broken her piggy bank to gather enough money to rent a room for a month, where she intended to live alone without interference. Speaking to NDTV, Khamaria Police Station In-charge Sarojini Toppo said: "We registered a case and began investigating immediately. The ransom note raised concern, and two police teams - one from the crime branch and one local - were deployed. A breakthrough came when an auto driver informed us that he had dropped the girl near a temple. We found her in Sadar, and during questioning, she admitted she had written the ransom note herself because she was angry at being scolded." Toppo added that the handwriting on the ransom note matched the girl's school notebook, confirming it was indeed written by her. The police have now handed the girl over safely to her family. The incident caused panic in the colony throughout the day, with neighbours and relatives fearing the worst. However, it has also brought to light the growing emotional pressures on children. The police have urged families to keep open communication with their children to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Time of India
Two held for firing in Khunti clash
Ranchi: Police on Thursday nabbed two men with country-made pistols in connection with a clash between two criminal groups in Akta village under Khunti police station limits on June 2. Khunti SP Manish Toppo on Friday said the arrested men are Pascal Purty and Sukhram Purty. Toppo said the arrests were made following a tip-off that both the accused persons are in their native village Barakragi. He stated that a video went viral on social media regarding firing in the air and snatching of arms by members of both the groups. Toppo added that two FIRs were registered in this connection. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Hindustan Times
30-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
NIA probes suspected Maoist links in loot of gelatin sticks in Odisha
A DIG-led three-member team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday started a probe into the theft of around 1.5 tonne of gelatin sticks from a truck on the Odisha-Jharkhand border by suspected Maoists on May 27 (Tuesday). Around 9.30 am on Tuesday, eight armed people rounded up the explosives-laden truck near a forested stone quarry at Banko within K Balang police limits, more than 90km from Rourkela, and drove the vehicle to a nearby forest where they unloaded the explosives and let the truck driver go. The driver, Debnath Toppo, told the police that another 10-15 people waiting inside the forest then looted at least 150 packets of explosives, each weighing 15-25 kg. The loot site is barely two km from the Maoist hotbed of Saranda forest in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Odisha police officials, who interrogated Toppo and owner of the stone quarry, Niraj Pandey, said it is almost certain that Maoists looted the gelatin sticks. 'From our investigation, it is certain that Maoists from Saranda forest did it. The gelatin sticks can be used as IED if there are enough detonators with them. That's why NIA has started probing the loot,' a senior police official of Rourkela said. Rourkela and Sundargarh districts are not on the SRE (Security Related Expenditure) list of the Union home ministry anymore due to lack of Maoist activities for a long time. There have also been no anti-Maoist operations lately in the two police districts that are close to the southern side of Saranda forests. In 2009, when the Maoist violence was at its peak in the region, the rebels looted an explosives-laden vehicle from Champajharan forest within the Chandiposh police limits. Subsequently, some packets of explosives were found buried inside the Saranda forest. Officials said the loot could be the retaliation by Maoists for the killing of several of their top commanders, including general secretary Basavaraj, in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur last week. 'The amount (of gelatin sticks) that they have looted is a lot for them to carry around. Besides, they normally burn down the vehicles after looting, which they have not done in this case. We are working closely with the NIA team,' the official said. In April 2009, Maoists had looted about 25 tonne of explosives, including ammonium nitrate and detonators, from a Nalco warehouse manned by CISF jawans. Eleven CISF jawans were killed in the attack.
