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Restoring Rogers: Video Games, False Association Claims, And The “Explicitly Misleading” Use Of Trademarks, 16 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 306 (2017), William K. Ford

William K. Ford

Courts have long struggled with how to balance false association claims brought under the Lanham Act with the protections for speech under the First Amendment. The leading approach is the Rogers test, but this test comes in multiple forms with varying degrees of protection for speech. A substantial portion of the litigation raising this issue now involves video games, a medium that more so than others, likely needs the benefit of a clear rule that protects speech. The original version of the test is the simplest and the one most protective of speech. In 2013, the Ninth Circuit endorsed the …