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Full-Text Articles in Law

Sui-Genericide, Jorge L. Contreras Jun 2019

Sui-Genericide, Jorge L. Contreras

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Generic terms – those that describe a general class of goods or services – are not eligible for trademark protection. Firms have historically gone to great lengths to prevent their trademarks from becoming generic – a fate often referred to as genericide. But in a few rare cases, firms have voluntarily declared certain terms that they have created to be generic, a phenomenon that I refer to as “sui-genericide”. This article explores the little-discussed phenomenon of sui-genericide, both its origins in government-sponsored programs of the mid-twentieth century and its most recent incarnation in the area of technical interoperability standards. Though …


Trademarks, Certification Marks And Technical Standards, Jorge L. Contreras Jun 2018

Trademarks, Certification Marks And Technical Standards, Jorge L. Contreras

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The names of many technical standards such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DVD have become household terms known throughout the developed world. This chapter describes different approaches that have been taken with respect to the naming and legal protection of technical standards, ranging from those that are wholly unregulated to those that are administered under strict certification and compliance regimes. It concludes by questioning the need for aggressive protection of marks that exist largely to inform consumers about technical product features rather than the source of standards themselves.


Enhanced Protections For Geographical Indications Under Trips: Potential Conflicts Under The U.S. Constitutional And Statutory Regimes, David Snyder Jun 2008

Enhanced Protections For Geographical Indications Under Trips: Potential Conflicts Under The U.S. Constitutional And Statutory Regimes, David Snyder

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Applying Genericide To The Right Of Publicity, Zoe Argento Jan 2008

Applying Genericide To The Right Of Publicity, Zoe Argento

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This article proposes applying genericide to the right of publicity as a way to cabin the over-expansion of publicity rights. The article offers a different approach than previous proposals, which seek to either narrow the definition of publicity rights or bolster defenses, such as the First Amendment. Like trademark genericide, the celebrity's image comes to refer to an idea, not to the identity of the source of the product or to the identity of the celebrity. This article proposes a test: whether the aspect of the celebrity's persona at issue has been used in the public dialogue with a clearly …


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 …


Genericide: Cancellation Of A Registered Trademark, Jacqueline Stern Jan 1983

Genericide: Cancellation Of A Registered Trademark, Jacqueline Stern

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.