Nikkei 225 Indices and Nikkei Financial Ltd locked in legal battle.

Online, July 22, 2010 (Newswire.com) - The legal department of the Nikkei 225 asked the Tokyo High Court to review the nation's law on branding after they reported Nikkei Financial for using a similar brand name.

On Monday, Nikkei 225 lawyer, Tirtak Usuma, said his client wanted the court to annul an article of the law stipulating that a brand name can't be "principally or totally" similar to any existing brand name for the same type of product or service.

"We want it to be changed to 'totally' similar, and for the part about 'principal' similarity to be deleted," he said during the court hearing.

The battle started after the Nikkei 225 lodged an official complaint in 2001 when Nikkei Financial Limited first purchased the domain name www.nikkeifinancial.com after a clerical error allowed the name which was once owned by the Nikkei 225 to be overlooked at renewal and the 2 heavy weights have been enthralled in a legal battle ever since.

Nikkei Financial Limited continued their business under the same name as they had registered the name of the company with the Ministry of Justice and the with EDINET (Electronic Disclosure for Investors' NETwork) is Japan's electronic filing system for disclosure documents.

However, the Nikkei 225 protested this registration and a long legal battle ensued with their main argument

After Nikkei 225, filed suit in the Commercial Court, demanding that it revoke Nikkei Financials name and website domain.

The court approved Nikkei 225 request, but Nikkei Financial has appealed. Now, the two of them are still pushing legal challenges with the Commercial Court and the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court has asked Nikkei 225's lawyer to clarify his client's legal standing and how they might have suffered losses under the law. "The legal standing of the applicant is not clear," the presiding judge said.

The next court hearing is expected to be held within two weeks until which time the company has been forced to use www.nikkei-financial.com for the time being, a spokes person for the company was quoted as saying "this is not the over yet and we fully anticipate us gaining the prestigious domain name back in the near future after our appeal has been lodged and considered."