As I understand from a friend of mine that worked for JVC for over a decade, the Japanese corporate environment encourages trademark filing for everything but the kitchen sink (ok, that too). He recalled an instance where a coworker trademarked a for loop in his code.

It seems to be a method of persisting an intellectual trail, sort of like a lab notebook.

Japanese IP Law is a strange bird. Japanese patents and trademarks are rarely enforced in Japan against other Japanese companies. From what little I know, the filings are more like a "badge of honor" or "gold star" for the filer - but enforcement as opposed to opening them to the Japanese public domain for the good of Japanese society is considered socially unacceptable.

Tail's wagging the dog here.
Besides, isn't it Brog in Japan?

Japanese trademarks, like most outside of the US, are based upon date of first filing. In the US, it's based on first use, and filing is allowed only after it has been established as a bona fide brand.

Before McDonald's first went International, some punter had registered it in Japan, and they had to pay him a mighty fine sum to get it back. Prior use isn't relevant in most countries trademark law (it's like legal domain squatting, but in the real world!)

Besides, isn't it Brog in Japan?

Actually, I'm thinking it's more like Burogu.

Nice article