Novelty (related to Prior designs)
(Conclusion) Novelty should NOT be found. (Applicant lost.)
Difference of colors might contribute to “Novelty,” but denid in this case.
The combination of colors as pointed out as a difference between the two designs in the court of prior instance (black and yellow in the applied design, dark red and orange in the cited prior design) is, in short, merely a combination of two colors even by taking into consideration the difference in lightness and hue, which were pointed out in the court of prior instance.
As determined in the court of prior instance, the bicolor combination of the applied design is very common, and thus it is difficult to say that the difference in the color combination of the two designs is necessarily noticeable.
<Writer: Hideki Takaishi (Attorney-at-law licensed in Japan and California)>
https://www.ip.courts.go.jp/app/files/hanrei_en/421/002421.pdf