Digital Commons Network^™

The Angel Wears Prada, The Devil Buys It On The Realreal: Expanding Trademark Rights Beyond The First Sale Doctrine, Junajoy Vinoya Frianeza

Pepperdine Law Review

Luxury brands derive their goodwill from the high-class exclusivity and first-rate quality signified in their trademarks. The Trademark Act of 1946, commonly known as the Lanham Act, grants trademark holders the right to control use of their mark. However, under common law, the first sale doctrine restricts trademark protection after holders authorize the initial sale of their trademarked product. Such limitation particularly jeopardizes the luxury industry as trademark holders ultimately bear the loss of goodwill when counterfeit luxury goods enter the market due to the negligence of resellers. This Comment illustrates how blockchain authentication offers all luxury industry participants—the brands, …

Who Owns Your Name? The Trend And Economic Impact Of Personal Trademarks In The Ncaa Nil Aftermath, Daniel Foster

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

To aid in understanding the prevalence of personal athlete logos and the trend of ownership and design, Section II will outline the history of this area of trademark law in the United States. It will provide background on the theory of trademark ownership and the development of this intellectual property discipline in the athletic and celebrity sphere. Section II will look at the two common and distinct processes, a company-designed logo versus an athlete-designed logo, and the modern trends in this area. Moving on from this historical discussion, Section III will examine the 2021 decision of NCAA v. Alston, the …

Albrecht Dürer’S Enforcement Actions: A Trademark Origin Story, Peter J. Karol

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article offers a trademark-framed reappraisal of a pair of extraordinary enforcement actions brought by the Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) against copyists of his work. These cases have long been debated by art, cultural, and copyright historians insofar as they appear to reject Dürer’s demand for protocopyright protection. Commentators have also contested the historicity of one of the two narratives. But surprisingly little attention has been paid by trademark scholars to the companion holdings-—in the same texts-—that affirm Dürer’s right to prevent the use of his monogram on unauthorized reproductions.

This Article seeks to fill that gap by …

Unauthorized And Unwise: The Lawful Use Requirement In Trademark Law, Robert A. Mikos

Vanderbilt Law Review

For decades, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) has required trademark owners to comply with sundry nontrademark laws governing the sale of their trademarked goods and services. Pursuant to this “lawful use requirement,” the Agency has refused or even cancelled registration of thousands of marks used on everything from Schedule I controlled substances to mislabeled soap. This Article subjects the Agency’s lawful use requirement to long-overdue scrutiny. It suggests that in requiring compliance with other laws for registration, the PTO has lost sight of the one statute it is supposed to administer. In the process, the Agency has …

Bully No More: Why Trademark Owners Engage In Trademark Overreach And How To Prevent It, Quynh La

Washington Law Review

At its core, trademark law exists as a tool for consumer protection. Thus, trademark owners use policing and enforcement to maintain a trademark’s goodwill, which in turn protects consumers from confusion. But policing and enforcement can lead to trademark overreach and bullying—which undermine the goal of trademark law. This Comment explains that trademark owners are incentivized to engage in aggressive enforcement tactics because courts weigh enforcement efforts in favor of trademark strength. And strong trademarks receive strong protection because such marks are more likely to succeed in trademark infringement litigation. To curb trademark bullying and realign trademark law with its …

An Af(Fur)Mative Defense: Using Intellecutal Property As A Defense To Employment Discrimination In Mascot Hiring, Taylor Farr

Arkansas Law Review

"Until a character becomes a personality, it cannot be believed. Without personality, the character may do funny or interesting things, but unless people are able to identify themselves with the character, its actions seem unreal. And without personality, a story cannot ring true to the audience." Walt Disney1 Mascots 2 are different animals. They bring some of our favorite characters from screens, packages, and comic book pages to life. Moreover, mascots serve a particularly important role on university campuses, offering a point of communal continuity3 amid inevitable organizational changes. Although university buildings, athletes, faculty, and staff will eventually change, a …

The Defend Trade Secrets Act And Foreign Theft: The Application Of The Act To Extraterritorial Misappropriation, John Dustin Hawkins

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This Note explores the evolution of federal trade secret law in the United States, particularly the enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Part II discusses the legislative history of the Act, as well as key provisions and definitions of the Act, which are critical when considering the DTSA's extraterritorial application. Additionally, this Note considers the tests used by courts to determine extraterritorial application in other areas of U.S. law. Part III explains why a uniformly-applied balancing test would best serve the courts in determining the extraterritorial application of the DTSA to reach foreign conduct.

Left With No Name: How Government Action In Intra-Church Trademark Disputes Violates The Free Exercise Clause Of The First Amendment, Mary Kate Nicholson

Washington and Lee Law Review

The United States was founded in part on the principle of freedom of religion, where citizens were free to practice any religion. The founding fathers felt so strongly about this principle that it was incorporated into the First Amendment. The Free Exercise Clause states that “Congress shall make no law . . . prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . .” The Supreme Court later adopted the neutral principles approach to avoid Free Exercise violations resulting from courts deciding real property disputes. Without the application of the same neutral principles to intellectual property disputes between churches, however, there is …

Trademarks & The First Amendment After Matal V. Tam, Gary Myers

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The United States Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in Matal v. Tam is a landmark decision regarding the intersection between free speech and trademark law. Addressing whether trademarks can legitimately be barred from federal trademark protection under the Lanham Act based solely on their possible disparaging content, the litigation involving an Asian-American band that sought to register the name, "The Slants," brought this important interplay into stark relief. Writing in bold strokes, Justice Alito's opinion holds that the Lanham Act's prohibition on disparaging marks, 15 U.S.C. 51052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. "It offends a bedrock First …

Property And Equity In Trademark Law, Mark P. Mckenna

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This lecture focuses on the relationship between trademark and unfair competition. Specifically, this lecture discusses the way trademark law has evolved over time with respect to property concepts. There has been a lot of discussion in the literature about the ways trademark law has come to treat trademarks as property. Many scholars who have written about this “propertization” have described it as a shift from consumer to producer protection.

I have written a lot about this narrative over the course of my career—I think it is overly simplistic, and in some ways, wrong. Trademark law has al-ways protected marks as …

Thou Shalt Not Steele: Reexamining The Extraterritorial Reach Of The Lanham Act, James C. Gracey

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

US courts have applied domestic trademark law to actions taken outside of the United States's borders for years, but the US Supreme Court recently revamped the presumption against extraterritoriality, a canon of statutory interpretation. The presumption against extraterritoriality promotes a judicial means of respecting the sovereignty of foreign states by disallowing the application of domestic law to foreign acts. However, the Supreme Court interpreted the Lanham Act, the United States's domestic trademark law, to have extraterritorial reach in Bulova Watch Co. v. Steele. This Note traces the recent evolution and strengthening of the presumption before analyzing how circuit courts have …

Historical Perspectives & Reflections On "Matal V. Tam" And The Future Of Offensive Trademarks, Russ Versteeg

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The Myth Of Uniformity In Ip Laws, Sharon K. Sandeen

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

When Congress enacts federal laws, it is often because of the asserted benefits of a “uniform” law and the, often unspoken, assumption that federal laws are somehow more uniform than uniform state laws. Infact, the uniformity argument was a primary justification for theenactment of both the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 and the EU Trade Secret Directive.

The quest for uniformity, particularly with respect to laws that relate to intellectual property rights, is an old story in the United States. During the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, the existence of inconsistent state laws was a central reason for the …

Dh Brothers Industries (Pty) Limited Vs. Olivine Industries (Pty) Limited (Appeal No. 74/2010) [2012] Zmsc 17, Chanda N. Tembo

SAIPAR Case Review

No abstract provided.

Weird Science! It’S My Creation . . . Is It Really? Or: Crafting A New Universal Trademark Standard For User-Created Avatars, Ryan Esparza

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

In modern trademark law the process of registering a valid trademark is straightforward. In the United States the Lanham Act is the ruling law of trademark law. The Lanham Act grants protection to the owner of a registered mark which is distinctive and used in commerce. Assuming all the requirements are met, the owner of a mark can use the mark within its discretion and enjoy the protection under the Lanham Act. As trademark law has continued to evolve, the law has expanded to protect previously unforeseen categories. The two most obvious examples which demonstrate the evolution of protection under …

Brandright, Jessica M. Kiser

Arkansas Law Review

Trademark law is guilty of overprotection. This overprotection pits both a company’s in-house attorneys against its own marketing professionals and the company itself against its most loyal customers. The result appears illogical, at best, to consumers witnessing the effects of this clash between a company’s marketing needs and perceived legal requirements.

Makeup Dupes And Fair Use, Samantha Primeaux

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property In Experience, Madhavi Sunder

Michigan Law Review

In today’s economy, consumers demand experiences. From Star Wars to Harry Potter, fans do not just want to watch or read about their favorite characters— they want to be them. They don the robes of Gryffindor, flick their wands, and drink the butterbeer. The owners of fantasy properties understand this, expanding their offerings from light sabers to the Galaxy’s Edge®, the new Disney Star Wars immersive theme park opening in 2019.Since Star Wars, Congress and the courts have abetted what is now a $262 billion-a-year industry in merchandising, fashioning “merchandising rights” appurtenant to copyrights and trademarks that give fantasy owners …

Fashion Law: More Than Wigs, Gowns, And Intellectual Property, Mark K. Brewer

San Diego Law Review

[T]his article frames the emerging field of fashion law and synthesizes its substance from an international perspective in order to raise the profile of fundamental areas in which the law and fashion intersect as well as identify key areas for future research. Part II examines the background on fashion law, initially focusing on its origins and then examining IP, traditionally the main area of the field. Additionally, the Article defines, frames, and justifies the emerging field of fashion law. Because an exhaustive analysis of the emerging trends in fashion law is beyond the scope of this Article, Part III only …

How Many Likes Did It Get? Using Social Media Metrics To Establish Trademark Rights, Caroline Mrohs

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

This comment asserts that there is a need for an update to the multifactor test considered by courts in determining the strength of a trademark. Traditional factors include the expenses an entity can afford to pay in advertising, but do not give any weight to the presence of the entity on social media to reach its target consumer group.

The Non-Recording, Non-Artist" Recording Artist": Expanding The Recording Artist's Brand Into Non-Music Arenas, Suzanne Kessler

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The changing nature of the music business presents earnings challenges for both record labels and recording artists. Historically, labels and artists entered into recording contracts pursuant to which the artists created music which the labels funded, distributed, marketed, and promoted. Many artists made good livings from music sales, earning dollars per album, while the labels profited even more. However, as digital delivery, especially streaming, now supplants physical records as the primary music consumption manner, the money that labels and artists realize from music sales has significantly decreased. In particular, artists earn fractions of pennies per track streamed. Labels, too, are …

Trademarks “Lanham Act” Foreign Registrants Need Not Allege Use In The United States And May Waive Filing Requirements Required For Domestic Applications (Scm Corporation V. Langis Foods, Ltd., D.C. Cir. 1976), John A. Cutler

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Trademark’S Ebay Problem, Peter J. Karol

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This Article addresses the current debate over whether to extend, to trademark law, the rule in eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. denying prevailing patent plaintiffs presumptive entitlement to injunctive relief. Its central concern, however, is not whether or how eBay should apply to trademark law, but rather the way in which the debate resurfaces structural flaws undermining foundational provisions of the Lanham Act. Namely, the Act purports to grant ex ante exclusive rights to mark owners against all confusingly similar uses, but then reserves discretion to district courts to deny statutory injunctive relief without further guidance. This ambiguity, a familiar …

Crossing The Line: The Collegiate Licensing Company's Overindulgent Attempt To Limit Small Businesses' Online Marketing Techniques Based On Frivolous Claims Of Trademark Infringement, Lauren T. Warbington

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Spelling Confusion: Implications Of The Ninth Circuit's View Of The "Explicitly Misleading" Prong Of The Rogers Test, Thomas M. Byron

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

I Cann't Believe It's Not Better: Why New Gtlds Aer Bad For Brand Owners And Trademark Law, Alexandra Morgan Joseph

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Trademark Laundering, Useless Patents, And Other Ip Challenges For The Marijuana Industry, Sam Kamin, Viva R. Moffat University Of Denver College Of Law

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

#Trademarklaw: Protecting And Maximizing The Value Of Trademarks In An Evolving Social Media Marketplace, Betsy A. Butwin

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

From Incentive To Commodity To Asset: How International Law Is Reconceptualizing Intellectual Property, Rochelle Dreyfuss, Susy Frankel

Michigan Journal of International Law

The intellectual property landscape is changing. As Jerry Reichman once observed, intellectual property rights were islands in a sea of the public domain until domestic laws expanded to include such “innovations” as business methods, software, scents, and sounds and turned the public domain into a pond surrounded by a continent of rights. Reichman spoke towards the end of the 20th century, and whatever problems accompanied this change, in truth (to paraphrase Voltaire’s view of the Holy Roman Empire), the concept of “intellectual property rights” was predominantly about neither “property” nor “rights” (nor was it always “intellectual”). Rather, copyright, patent, and …

The Cost Of Confusion: The Paradox Of Trademarked Pharmaceuticals, Hannah Brennan

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The United States spends nearly $1,000 per person annually on drugs—forty percent more than the next highest spender, Canada, and more than twice the amount France and Germany spend. Although myriad factors contribute to high drug spending in the United States, intellectual property law plays a crucial and well-documented role in inhibiting access to cheaper, generic medications. Yet, for the most part, the discussion of the relationship between intellectual property law and drug spending has centered on patent protection. Recently, however, a few researchers have turned their attention to a different avenue of exclusivity—trademark law. New studies suggest that pharmaceutical …