Law Commons^™

Your Image Is My Image: When Advertising Dedicates Trademarks To The Public Domain--With An Example From The Trademark Counterfeiting Act Of 1984, Malla Pollack

Malla Pollack

Trademark laws protect the mental association between the source n4 of a product and the product itself. This protection allows consumers to locate merchandise of known quality, and motivates suppliers to produce better merchandise. The extent to which trademarks are property rights owned by the controller of the items they identify is controversial. These dual purposes of trademark protection are often phrased as if the objectives reinforce one another. Sometimes, however, the interests conflict. If the public's interests are not recognized they cannot be protected. This article suggests the existence of an ignored public ownership interest. Trademarks may become communicative …