Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law

Marquette University Law School

2005

Trademark

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

Semiotics Of The Scandalous And The Immoral And The Disparaging: Section 2(A) Trademark Law After Lawrence V. Texas, Llewellyn Joseph Gibbons Jul 2005

Semiotics Of The Scandalous And The Immoral And The Disparaging: Section 2(A) Trademark Law After Lawrence V. Texas, Llewellyn Joseph Gibbons

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This article explores whether the holding in Lawrence v. Texas may be extended to trademark law. Under section 2(a), some symbols may not serve as trademarks because they may be scandalous, immoral, or disparaging, which is of particular interest to the Queer community. For some, arguably at least a substantial composite of the American people, the relevant test group for scandal or immorality, under section 2(a), the mere existence of queers constitute scandal and immorality and terms of pride and endearment with which they express their sexuality in concrete form are a further example of immorality. Under these circumstances, Lawrence …


The Naked Licensing Doctrine Exposed: How Courts Interpret The Lanham Act To Require Licensors To Police Their Licensees & Why This Requirement Conflicts With Modern Licensing Realities & The Goals Of Trademark Law , Rudolph J. Kuss Jul 2005

The Naked Licensing Doctrine Exposed: How Courts Interpret The Lanham Act To Require Licensors To Police Their Licensees & Why This Requirement Conflicts With Modern Licensing Realities & The Goals Of Trademark Law , Rudolph J. Kuss

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This Comment discusses the naked licensing doctrine, under which trademark owners may lose their trademark protection through failing to exercise control over their licensees. Even though the Lanham Act holds that abandonment of trademark rights is only appropriate when a trademark has lost its significance, courts have held that a trademark owner may abandon its rights through naked licensing when it breaches its affirmative duty to police its licensees. In other words, these courts find abandonment even when there is no evidence that the quality of the goods and services sold under the trademark has declined. This Comment argues that …


The Spawn Of Learned Hand-A Reexamination Of Copyright Protection And Fictional Characters: How Distinctly Delineated Must The Story Be Told?, Gregory S. Schienke Jan 2005

The Spawn Of Learned Hand-A Reexamination Of Copyright Protection And Fictional Characters: How Distinctly Delineated Must The Story Be Told?, Gregory S. Schienke

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Fictional characters are the backbone of the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. Since the early twentieth century, the owners of fictional characters have recognized that there is money to be made in derivative products featuring those characters and move swiftly to stop infringing use of those characters. Learned Hand, in passing, allowed that fictional characters could be protected through copyright law if the characters were distinctly delineated. Since then, the courts have created a piecemeal protective-strategy involving trademark and copyright law to protect fictional characters. The Seventh Circuit in Gaiman v. McFarlane, continued using the traditional analysis, that copyrightability for a …