Hikone City’s beloved mascot, Hikonyan, will soon have its merchandise sold in China. To prevent potential issues, the city of Hikone is moving forward with trademark registration procedures.
This initiative began after a request from a Japan-affiliated company in China, which expressed interest in selling Hikonyan merchandise alongside Hikone’s local products at a department store in Shanghai (NHK).
Some may wonder, “Why didn’t they register the trademark in China earlier, given Hikonyan’s popularity?”
I guess that the city of Hikone faced financial constraints and found it difficult to allocate funds for registration without a concrete plan to expand business operations in China.
