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Full-Text Articles in Law

Fashion Has No Function: Diminishing The Functionality Bar To Trademark Protection In The Fashion Industry, Seth Diasio Apr 2024

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. …


Calculating The Harms Of Political Use Of Popular Music, Jake Linford, Aaron Perzanowski Feb 2024

Calculating The Harms Of Political Use Of Popular Music, Jake Linford, Aaron Perzanowski

Articles

When Donald Trump descended the escalator of Trump Tower to announce his 2016 presidential bid, Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” blared from the loudspeakers. Almost immediately, Young’s management made clear that the campaign’s use of the song was unauthorized. Neil Young was not alone. Trump drew similar objections from dozens of artists during his first two presidential bids. But as a matter of copyright law, it is unclear whether artists can prevent their songs from being played at campaign rallies.


The Subsistence And Enforcement Of Copyright And Trademark Rights In The Metaverse, Cheng Lim Saw, Zheng Wen Samuel Chan Jan 2024

The Subsistence And Enforcement Of Copyright And Trademark Rights In The Metaverse, Cheng Lim Saw, Zheng Wen Samuel Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The metaverse has been widely hailed as a symbol of technological progress, presenting an immersive virtual realm that has the potential to transform how individuals engage in social and commercial activities. However, this conception of a borderless virtual world - which purportedly transcends the capabilities and reach of Web 2.0 - sits uncomfortably with the territorial nature of intellectual property rights. This chapter examines the complexities surrounding the subsistence and enforcement of intellectual property rights within the metaverse, with a specific focus on copyright and trademarks. Especial attention is paid to issues concerning choice of law and jurisdiction. Finally, the …


Franchising Law In The United States Between Theory And Practice: Heads Up For Foreign Investors, Radwa Elsaman Jan 2024

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 …


Ai, Artists, And Anti-Moral Rights, Derek E. Bambauer, Robert W. Woods Jan 2024

Ai, Artists, And Anti-Moral Rights, Derek E. Bambauer, Robert W. Woods

UF Law Faculty Publications

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly used to imitate the distinctive characteristics of famous artists, such as their voice, likeness, and style. In response, legislators have introduced bills in Congress that would confer moral rights protections, such as control over attribution and integrity, upon artists. This Essay argues such measures are almost certain to fail because of deep-seated, pervasive hostility to moral rights measures in U.S. intellectual property law. It analyses both legislative measures and judicial decisions that roll back moral rights, and explores how copyright’s authorship doctrines manifest a latent hostility to these entitlements. The Essay concludes with …


Failure To Function: A Potential New Shield Against Trademark Infringement?, Alyssa Yoshino Jan 2024

Failure To Function: A Potential New Shield Against Trademark Infringement?, Alyssa Yoshino

IP Theory

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has recently been characterized as having a “penchant” for refusing trademark registrations on the grounds of failure to function. This trend has come with commentary, both praising the doctrine’s ability to efficiently supplement the distinctiveness analysis by assessing use and criticizing the inconsistent application of the doctrine. The sources of this academic commentary, from Alexandra J. Roberts and Lucas D. Cuatrecasas, serve as the heads of two camps regarding the failure to function doctrine. The first encourages an increased application of the doctrine as a combined distinctiveness and use analysis. The second …


Keeping It Wreal: How The Eleventh Circuit's Wreal Decision Is Better Suited For A Uniform Reverse Confusion Multifactor Analysis, Sean J. Flaherty Jan 2024

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

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Jack Daniel’S And The Unfulfilled Promise Of Trademark Use, Stacey Dogan, Jessica Silbey Jan 2024

Jack Daniel’S And The Unfulfilled Promise Of Trademark Use, Stacey Dogan, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

In Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products, the Supreme Court announced a bright-line rule: whatever speech protections govern the use of trademarks in artistic works, no such rule applies “when an alleged infringer uses a trademark in the way the Lanham Act most cares about: as a designation of source for the infringer’s own goods.” Those who engage in “trademark use,” in other words, must face the usual likelihood-of-confusion standard, regardless of whether their use also has expressive dimensions. The Jack Daniel’s defendant conceded that it was engaged in trademark use, so the opinion did not do the hard work …


Open Source Perfume, Amanda Levendowski Jan 2024

Open Source Perfume, Amanda Levendowski

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

ABRIDGED ABSTRACT: Perfume is a powerful art and technology, but its secrets are closely held by a privileged few - by some counts, there are more astronauts than there are perfumers. As critics have noted increasingly since 2020, those select few perfumers often share similar backgrounds. As interviews with American, British, and French perfumemakers reveal, intellectual property (IP) also plays a gatekeeping role in perfumery. Drawing on work by perfumer and educator Saskia Wilson-Brown, this Article suggests that perfumery is overdue for a transformation. One is emerging: open source perfume. For those seeking ways to share scents and signal commitment …