“seasoning your life” The Story of Kikkoman’s Soy Sauce Tabletop Dispenser


Kikkoman Corporation started selling its soy sauce tabletop dispenser in 1961.
In 2018, this tabletop dispenser was registered as a three-dimensional trademark in Japan.
The three-dimensional trademark system is a system for registering and protecting three-dimensional shapes as trademarks. Although shapes with figures such as words or logos are generally registered as three-dimensional trademarks, Kikkoman’s soy sauce tabletop dispenser is one of the rare cases of a registration without a logo or product name.(*1) This means that despite lacking a logo or words, the shape of Kikkoman’s tabletop soy sauce dispenser has been officially acknowledged for being recognizable at a glance.
The soy sauce tabletop dispenser was designed by the world-renowned industrial designer Kenji Ekuan.
It is now registered as a three-dimensional trademark in six countries and one region(*2).
This video introduces the ideals incorporated in the design of the tabletop dispenser along with its shape that is now recognizable worldwide.
(*1)Representative examples of three-dimensional trademark registrations for simple food containers without words or figures include Coca-Cola’s Contour bottle (glass bottle) and Yakult’s plastic container.
(*2)The United States, EU, Ukraine, Norway, Russia, Australia and Japan