Law Commons^™

Brand Spillovers, Eric Goldman

Faculty Publications

This Article considers the spillover effects of trademarks - in particular, brand spillovers, which occur when consumer interest in a trademark increases the profits of third parties who do not own the trademark. Using techniques such as loss leaders and shelf space adjacency, retailers routinely create brand spillovers for their profit, and trademark law generally has not restricted these activities. Online intermediaries, such as search engines, also create and profit from brand spillovers by selling manufacturers' trademarks for advertising purposes (keyword triggering). However, in contrast to retailer practices, keyword triggering has sparked a heated and irresolute battle over its legitimacy …