Pokemon and Popular Monster Anime Overcome Monster Energy Trademark War
It seems like Monster Energy's battle with Pokemon and a fan-favorite anime has already ended. Last week, reports surfaced from Japan confirming the drink brand had filed trademark issues against some popular IPs. Now, J-PlatPlat has confirmed the opposition failed in record time.
The public registrar confirmed Monster Energy's trademark battle ended just days after the drink filed its complaints. According to the original documents, Monster Energy opposed trademarks for the anime Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls as well as games like Monster Hunter and Monster Strikes. Of course, Pokemon also came under fire because its full name is Pocket Monsters.
Oh, and it gets worse. Pokemon X and Y had trademark oppositions filed against it, and the same was done to Pokemon Sun and Moon. As you can imagine, fans were stunned by the Monster Energy injunction once reports of its litigation went live. But now, J-PLatPlat has confirmed the trademark oppositions have all failed.
Hilariously, this is not the first time Monster Energy has gone after other product names. Not long ago, the drink company filed a complaint against the game Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals. It seems Monster Energy files these complaints whenever new (or old) products include the word 'monster' in their titles. The drink may be scared consumers will confuse its products with others if they both have 'monster' in their name, but that just isn't the case.
Time and again, the patent office in Japan strikes down these complaints, but that has not stopped Monster Energy from filing new injunctions. Before this latest entry, the drink company filed a trademark complaint in November 2022. So at this point, it is just a matter of time before Digimon and Netflix's Monster are called out by the brand. Not even Godzilla is safe from the energy drink at this point because we're sure the title 'King of the Monsters' must not sit well with Monster Energy.
Of course, Monster Energy's latest round of targets is doing just fine amid the trademark litigation. In fact, the Pokemon anime has big milestone on the horizon. This week, the anime will kickstart a new era following Ash Ketchum's exit from the show. A new series titled Pokemon Horizons: The Series is slated to drop in Japan on April 14th with two new protagonists. So if you are ready to embrace this new era, the Paldea region is calling!
What do you make of this latest legal ordeal with Pokemon? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.