MANILA, Philippines – Authenticity is king when it comes to getting the right products with the best value for money. This holds true for Daiso merchandise, the trademark associated with high-quality but affordable items that range from kawaii (cute) to household and office goods.
The iconic global brand is owned by Daiso Industries Co. Ltd. of Japan since 1977. The company was founded by Hirotake Yano, who first introduced in 1972 the “Yano Shoten” concept, a street vending shop dealing with 100-yen products. With headquarters in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, the company grew exponentially over the years. In Japan alone, Daiso has over 2,400 stores and a strong presence in at least 30 countries.
In August of 2008, Daiso founder and president Hirotake Yano, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. vice chairman and deputy CEO Lance Gokongwei and COO Robina Gokongwei-Pe signed a distribution agreement authorizing Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. to sell authentic and original Daiso Japan products and to use the Daiso Japan concept store. Daiso Japan now has 43 stores in the Philippines.
As the authentic purveyor of the Daiso brand in the country, Daiso Japan stores should not be confused with any other establishments bearing a cunningly similar concept.
The issue was brought up years ago by Daiso Industries when it filed a complaint with the Intellectual Property Office against Japan Home Center (JHC) in 2009. The Supreme Court has since issued a final ruling on the matter in June this year, preventing JHC from using the trademark Daiso and thus affirming an earlier decision by the Court of Appeals that JHC registered the trademark Daiso and its Japanese equivalent with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in bad faith in 2005.