Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Reverse Passing Off: Preventing Healthy Competition, Catherine Romero Wright

Seattle University Law Review

In order to protect creativity, the development of products, and access to the marketplace, the Ninth Circuit should readopt the strict bodily appropriations test when determining whether a plaintiff has a legitimate claim under the Lanham Act for reverse passing off. This test protects product originators from having their products mislabeled and it protects entrepreneurs like Chad, who can make valuable contributions to products. This Comment begins with a brief description of the origins of reverse passing off, followed by its evolution in the Ninth Circuit. The expansion of this cause of action in some other circuits is examined; and …