Law Commons^™

Fashion Has No Function: Diminishing The Functionality Bar To Trademark Protection In The Fashion Industry, Seth Diasio

Mississippi College Law Review

The primary source of trademark law in the United States, The Lanham Act, outlines the requirements for trademark registration and protection. Marks which are distinctive, or that have acquired secondary meaning, can be registered on the Principal Register of the United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO). Registered marks receive strong federal protection; however, those protections are unavailable to marks that are barred by the Act, but would otherwise meet the qualifications of registration. One of the strongest bars to registration is the functionality bar, which prevents registration of a functional mark regardless of whether it has a secondary meaning. …

Franchising Law In The United States Between Theory And Practice: Heads Up For Foreign Investors, Radwa Elsaman

Touro Law Review

As a dynamic vehicle for fostering investment opportunities, both domestically and internationally, franchising spans a diverse array of industrial sectors, encompassing both goods and services. The United States plays a highly influential role in global franchise industry promotion, with a vast majority of International Franchise Association members representing American companies. Present data underscores that franchising has extended its reach to virtually every sector of the American economy. Notably, the United States stands among just four common law nations that have established dedicated franchise legislation, operating at both state and federal levels. This framework includes provisions for pre-sale disclosure, registration of …

Keeping It Wreal: How The Eleventh Circuit's Wreal Decision Is Better Suited For A Uniform Reverse Confusion Multifactor Analysis, Sean J. Flaherty

Marquette Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Review

None

Parallel Play: The Simultaneous Professional Responsibility Campaigns Against Unethical Ip Practitioners By The United States And China, Mark A. Cohen

Akron Law Review

“Parallel Play: The Simultaneous Professional Responsibility Campaigns Against IP Practitioners by the United States and China” describes efforts by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the China National IP Administration to discipline trademark and patent practitioners through contemporaneous campaign-style approach directed to bad faith filings. At the USPTO, many of these bad faith filings have originated from China. In both countries, these bad faith activities have imposed significant burdens on IP agencies, the courts, and legitimate rights holders. The campaign is likely the largest professional responsibility campaign undertaken by an IP agency, and the largest cross-border IP disciplinary …

Under Nifty Light: Trademark Considerations For The New Digital World, Willajeanne F. Mclean

Akron Law Review

Three cases involving non-fungible tokens are grabbing the attention of fashionistas, intellectual property mavens, and metaverse cognoscenti alike. All three are cases of first impression, despite involving trademark infringement claims. All are considered to be cases that will determine whether old trademark principles apply to new technology, and each has compelling and competing arguments that may militate against findings of infringement. While most commentators have focused on the questions surrounding alleged infringement, very few have discussed the challenges of applying remedies, such as injunctions, traditionally used in trademark infringement cases.

This article considers trademark law and examines it in a …

To "The" Or Not To "The"? The Question Has Been Answered: An Examination Of Trademark Bullying In The Context Of The Ohio State University's Recent Trademark Registration, Jennifer M. Danker

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This Note examines the growing concern in the legal community around trademark bullying by specifically focusing on the registration of the word mark “THE” by The Ohio State University (“OSU”) and its potential for abuse and overreach in trademark enforcement. By carefully analyzing relevant legal precedent, statutory provisions, and USPTO administrative procedures, this Note critically considers the offered justifications for and likely consequences of the trademark’s registration.

By exploring the historical progression of trademark law, including its purpose and underlying principles, this Note provides a framework for evaluating the merits and potential concerns associated with the recent registration. Additionally, it …

The Perks Of Being Human, Max Stul Oppenheimer

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The power of artificial intelligence has recently entered the public consciousness, prompting debates over numerous legal issues raised by use of the tool. Among the questions that need to be resolved is whether to grant intellectual property rights to copyrightable works or patentable inventions created by a machine, where there is no human intervention sufficient to grant those rights to the human. Both the U. S. Copyright Office and the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office have taken the position that in cases where there is no human author or inventor, there is no right to copyright or patent protection. …

Discovering The Governing Forces Of Esports, An Intellectual Property Gold Mine, Dave Gravely

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Trademark's Grip Over Sustainability, Daniel R. Cahoy

University of Colorado Law Review

Entrepreneurs and larger firms are waking up to the fact that there is a viable market for recycled, repaired, and even upcycled goods. There is also an increasing desire on the consumer end for more sustainable products as well as measures to reduce landfill and other product disposal harms to the environment. Although some legal barriers to this new market are being actively debated, other barriers have taken a back seat and seem primed to surge only when increased business activity exposes the liability. This is the case with trademark law, which has the potential to substantially deter the small-firm …

Against Secondary Meaning, Jeanne C. Fromer

Notre Dame Law Review

Trademark law premises protection and scope of marks on secondary meaning, which is established when a mark develops sufficient association to consumers with a business as a source of goods or services in addition to the mark’s linguistic primary meaning. In recent years, scholars have proposed that secondary meaning plays an even more central role in trademark law than it already does. Yet enshrining secondary meaning in the law undermines the ultimate goals of trademark law: promoting fair competition and protecting consumers. The dangers of enshrining secondary meaning include the problematic doctrine that has built up to assess it or …

Creativity Without Ip? Vindication And Challenges In The Video Game Industry, Bj Ard

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article intervenes in the longstanding debate over whether creative production is possible without exhaustive copyright protection. Intellectual property (IP) scholars have identified “negative spaces” like comedy and tattoo art where creativity thrives without IP, but critics dismiss these examples as niche. The video game industry allows for fresh headway. It is now the largest sector in entertainment—with revenues greater than Hollywood, streaming, and music combined—yet IP does not protect key game elements from duplication. Participants navigate this absence using non-IP strategies like those identified in negative-space industries: AAA developers invest in copy-resistant features while indie game developers rely on …

Revisiting The Justification Of Trademark Protection For Single Drug Compositions: A Critical Analysis From A Regulatory Perspective, Kuhu Tiwari, Dr. Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya

Akron Law Review

Trademarks, which are premised on product differentiation, are alleged to play a divergent role when used on pharmaceutical products: they tend to create an artificial product differentiation for the bioequivalent pharmaceutical products that are marketed as branded, generics, and branded-generic products. It is implied that the companies incorporate trademarks to market their products to different consumers at different prices. However, concerns arise when a company uses multiple trademarks for a single active pharmaceutical ingredient (API); sometimes, the company labels each trademark as treating a different medical condition.

This practice of brand proliferation may pose risks to patient safety by confusing …

When A “+” Doesn’T Add Anything In The Equation: Analyzing The Effect Of The “+” On Trademark Law, Vasilios Nasoulis

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

In the past decade, there has been a growing trend where companies use the plus sign, “+”, in their branding. From industry titans like Google and Apple to smaller, niche companies like World Champ Tech, there has been an increased use of the + in product and service names. This raises trademark questions about how the mark should be protected and how does the + change the meaning of a name. Trademarks are designed to protect producers as well as consumers from deceit, miscommunication, and misunderstanding. The + potentially denies producers and consumers these protections.

Another trend in the past …

Jack Daniel’S Highlights The Second And Ninth Circuit’S Divide On The Application Of The Rogers Test, Hannah Knab

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice Breyer And Intellectual Property Law

Marquette Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Review

None

Design On Someone Else's Dime: The Profiteering Of Interior Designer's Works From A Lack Of Rights In The Modern Era, Kim Carlson

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Rooms once viewed as utilitarian in nature- places to work in, sleep in, or cook in- have gone through a dramatic transformation. Now, people view these rooms as an outward reflection of their style. In the last few decades, people’s eagerness to renovate these rooms exploded. As a result, home designer shows soared in popularity, garnering millions of views. Consumers flocked to different media forms and stores in search of the latest paint and furniture trends. The heightened demand, coupled with prevailing social media marketing, forced interior designers to become innovative in creating and advertising their services. While the increased …

Bully No More: Why Trademark Owners Engage In Trademark Overreach And How To Prevent It, Quynh La

Washington Law Review

At its core, trademark law exists as a tool for consumer protection. Thus, trademark owners use policing and enforcement to maintain a trademark’s goodwill, which in turn protects consumers from confusion. But policing and enforcement can lead to trademark overreach and bullying—which undermine the goal of trademark law. This Comment explains that trademark owners are incentivized to engage in aggressive enforcement tactics because courts weigh enforcement efforts in favor of trademark strength. And strong trademarks receive strong protection because such marks are more likely to succeed in trademark infringement litigation. To curb trademark bullying and realign trademark law with its …

The Problem Of Recourse To Arbitration In Intellectual Property Disputes Within National Laws: Comparative Study On Patent, Trademark And Copyright Disputes, Mahmoud Ismail Abu Turabi

UAEU Law Journal

This study tries to answer the following question: could the intellectual property rights being a subject of arbitration in case of dispute? To answer the question, we need to study the legal nature of the intellectual property and the legal basic to get protection. It is a comparative study between Jordanian law and French law.

Towards An Integrated Legal System For The International Registration Of Trademarks In Gcc Countries: A Study In The Light Of The Recent Amendment To The Madrid System On 31 October 2015, Ahmed Makhlouf Jr

UAEU Law Journal

The international registration of trademark is of great importance, as it is protected in all countries of the world.

The Madrid System ensured that international registration of the trademark was facilitated through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Offering many benefits to brand owners. Instead of submitting an internal application for the registration of the mark in each individual country in accordance with different local and regional rules and regulations and paying different fees, the system ensures registration of the mark once a single application has been submitted to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization For its …

Trademarking Recreational Marijuana And Potential Threats To The United States' Treaty Obligations, Charles Wells

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The conflict between state and federal laws regarding the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana results in inconsistent application of trademark protections between state and federal governments that could cause conflict with the United States’ treaty obligations under the TRIPS agreement. Whereas the federal government categorically denies trademark protections for marijuana-based products state governments protect trademarks belonging to recreational marijuana businesses through state and common law trademark protections. The United States is also obligated to ensure that foreign nationals and United States receive the same treatment regarding trademark protections under The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). …

What's In Your Box? Removing The Tiffany Standard Of Knowledge In Online Marketplaces, Hayley Dunn

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Online shopping is a quintessential component of modern life. Millions of products from trusted brands are conveniently available at single-stop online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba with the click of a button from the comfort of home. But is the product delivered to the consumer’s front door actually the same as the one found on a store shelf? Pervasive trademark infringement in online marketplaces makes the answer to this question difficult, that is, until the consumer experiences negative consequences from a counterfeited product.

Under Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay, Inc., online marketplaces face almost no liability …

Mark Of The Devil: The University As Brand Bully, James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

In recent years, universities have been accused in news stories of becoming “trademark bullies,” entities that use their trademarks to harass and intimidate beyond what the law can reasonably be interpreted to allow. Universities have also intensified efforts to gain expansive new marks. The Ohio State University’s attempt to trademark the word “the” is probably the most notorious. There has also been criticism of universities’ attempts to use their trademarks to police clearly legal speech about their activities. But beyond provocative anecdotes, how can one assess whether a particular university is truly bullying, since there are entirely legitimate reasons for …

Commercializing Cannabis: Confronting The Challenges And Uncertainty Of Trademark And Trade Secret Protection For Cannabis-Related Businesses, John Mixon

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Over the last couple of decades, society has become more accepting of recreational cannabis and an ever-growing number of states have passed pro-cannabis legislation. With this change, the cannabis industry has, to some extent, exploded into a booming enterprise in states that have legalized marijuana. Nonetheless, cannabis' status as a Schedule I banned substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 remains unchanged. As a result, businesses in the cannabis industry face the unique challenge of having to toe the line between "legally" operating under state law and violating federal law, which trumps state law. One particular situation in which …

Intellectual Property's First Sale Doctrine And The Policy Against Restraints On Alienation, Lorie M. Graham, Stephen M. Mcjohn

Texas A&M Law Review

The first sale doctrine decouples intellectual property and physical property. Suppose, at an auction at Sotheby’s, someone bought a contemporary painting by Chuck Close. The buyer now owns the physical painting, but the copyright to the painting remains with the owner of the copyright—the painter Chuck Close or whomever Close may have transferred the copyright to. Absent the first sale doctrine, if the buyer either sold the painting or displayed it to the public, the buyer would potentially infringe the copyright in the painting. The copyright owner has the exclusive right to display copies (including the original, the first copy) …

It's Scandalous! -- Limiting Profane Trademark Registrations After "Tam" And "Brunetti", Gary Myers

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Over the course of the last two years, the Supreme Court has engaged in a long-overdue assessment of the constitutionality of federal trademark law prohibitions on the registration of offensive marks. In its unanimous 2017 decision in Matal v. Tam, the Court held that the disparagement clause is a content-based provision that violates the First Amendment. In 2019, the Court in Iancu v. Brunetti held that the refusal to register the mark “FUCT” on grounds that it was immoral or scandalous would also violate the First Amendment. These cases offered an opportunity for the Court to clarify the proper role …

Fighting The Faceless Foe Known As The Online Trademark Counterfeiter: Forum Shopping Tactics In The Digital Age, Chelsea R. Feagle

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This Note proceeds in two main parts. Part II provides a background for understanding trademark counterfeiting claims and remedies. It first examines the federal trademark protections alongside the state trademark protections and details the way in which they differ. Part II then breaks down the number of online trademark counterfeit cases filed in the United States and notes the percentage of those cases which are filed predominately in three federal district courts. Because it is difficult to comprehensively track this data, the principle import of the referenced statistical breakdown should be understood only as attempting to draw general conclusions from …

The Ip Of Ipas: A Look Into Trademark Infringement In The Craft Beer Industry, Shivani Patel

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Alcohol isn't just a mind-altering drink: It has been a prime mover of human culture from the beginning, fueling the development of arts, language, and religion."' Alcohol production and consumption can be traced to civilizations dating back thousands of years all around the world, and it has become so essential to our society that experts have gone on to joke that humans should be called "Homo imbibens." Within the current alcohol industry, two essential qualities that are becoming more common are creativity and variety.

Alcohol has become a defining aspect of human culture and our sense of society. It has …

Pre-Game Strategy For Long-Term Win: Using Trademark Registration And Right Of Publicity To Protect Esports Gamers, John Bat

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The soaring popularity of esports across the globe has turned ultra-talented gamers into a blend of athlete and entertainer. The youthful esports ecosystem is exploding in growth, and the world is taking notice. But are the gamers who are eyeing professional play taking basic legal steps to develop and shield their brands, as well as bolster their collective negotiating leverage with teams, leagues, and miscellaneous entities? This note explores what features of an up-and-coming esports gamer might be worth protecting through a trademark and/or personality-rights schema, which in turn, could assist competitive gamers who are interested in developing their careers …

Trademark Vigilance In The Twenty-First Century: An Update, Peter S. Sloane

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

The trademark laws impose a duty upon brand owners to be vigilant in policing their marks, lest they be subject to the defense of laches, a reduced scope of protection, or even death by genericide. Before the millennium, it was relatively manageable for brand owners to police the retail marketplace for infringements and counterfeits. The Internet changed everything.

In ways unforeseen, the Internet has unleashed a tremendously damaging cataclysm upon brands—online counterfeiting. It has created a virtual pipeline directly from factories in China to the American consumer shopping from home or work. The very online platforms that make Internet shopping …

The Flourishing Race: How The Success Of American Indian Artist-Entrepreneurs Underscores The Need For Enhanced Legal Protections For Native Intellectual Property, Jessica Roberts

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.