Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Search And Persuasion In Trademark Law, Barton Beebe

Michigan Law Review

The consumer, we are led to believe, is the measure of all things in trademark law. Trademarks exist only to the extent that consumers perceive them as designations of source. Infringement occurs only to the extent that consumers perceive one trademark as referring to the source of another. The most "intellectual" of the intellectual properties, trademarks are a property purely of consumers' minds. The simple idealist ontology underlying trademark law is largely responsible for the law's characteristic instability. Since 1992, the Supreme Court has considered - and in some cases, reconsidered - seven trademark cases. The Court's copyright cases garner …

Nickled And Dimed: The Dispute Over Intellectual Property Rights In The Bluenose Ii, Teresa Scassa

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Bluenose Schooner forms part of the folk history of Nova Scotia, and is a Canadian icon. Popular assumptions that Its name and image formed part of the public domain were put to the test in 2003 when the Bluenose II Preservation Trust Society brought suit against a Halifax business for Infringement of its official marks, trademarks and copyrights relating to the ship and its name. The litigation garnered local and national media attention, and the provincial government soon became involved in the dispute In this article, the author provides some background to the dispute before moving on to consider …

Corinthians Soccer Loses By Decision In Second Round Play-Off Over Corinthians.Com In Sallen V. Corinthians Licenciamentos Ltda, Clark D. Robertson

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Actual Confusion In Trademark Infringement Litigation: Restraining Subjectivity Through A Factor-Based Approach To Valuing Evidence, Mark D. Robins

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court And Trademark Law In The New Millennium, David S. Welkowitz

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defenders Of Small Business?: A Perspective On The Supreme Court's Recent Trademark Jurisprudence, Sharon K. Sandeen

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trademarks And Consumer Search Costs On The Internet, Stacey Dogan, Mark A. Lemley

Faculty Scholarship

In theory, trademarks serve as information tools, by conveying product information through convenient, identifiable symbols. In practice, however, trademarks have increasingly been used to obstruct the flow of information about competing products and services. In the online context, in particular, some courts have recently allowed trademark holders to block uses of their marks that would never have raised an eyebrow in a brick-and-mortar setting - uses that increase, rather than diminish, the flow of truthful, relevant information to consumers. These courts have stretched trademark doctrine on more than one dimension, both by expanding the concept of actionable "confusion" and by …

Taxing The New Intellectual Property Right, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

Articles

Current, albeit arbitrary, rules exist governing the tax treatment of traditional forms of intellectual property, such as patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and trade names. While tax principles exist for these traditional intellectual property and intangible rights, specific tax rules do not exist for new intellectual property rights, such as domain names, that are emerging with the arrival of global electronic commerce transactions on the Internet. This article explores the proper tax treatment of domain name registration and acquisition costs, addressing these parallel questions? Are domain names merely variations of traditional forms of intellectual property and other intangible rights to …

Even More Parodic Than The Real Thing: Parody Lawsuits Revisited, Bruce P. Keller, Rebecca Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

An article focusing on a copyright decision initially may appear out of place in the pages of The Trademark Reporter®. Yet Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a parodic, transformative use of a copyrighted work, even if commercial, could qualify as a fair use, is quite significant for trademark lawyers. As a practical matter, parody cases increasingly involve copyright as well as trademark claims, so practitioners often encounter both within the same case. As a doctrinal matter, Campbell also has proved legally significant in trademark cases because the free-speech concerns underlying protection for …

Beyond Dilution: Toward A Coherent Theory Of The Anti Free Rider Impulse In American Trademark Law, David J. Franklyn

ExpressO

This article argues for a fundamental shift in the way famous trademarks are protected under American trademark law. Currently, famous marks are protected by dilution law, which purports to prevent a particular kind of harm (i.e., the gradual whittling away of the commercial magnetism of a famous mark). The article argues that this is the wrong focus of famous mark protection, because dilution is an illusory concept; it either does not exist, or it is so difficult to prove, that it is an ineffective and misleading doctrinal tool. The article contends that American trademark law should move from the harm-based …

Trademarks Under The North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) With References To The New Trademark Law Of Spain, Effective July 31, 2002, And The Current Mexican Law, Roberto Rosas

Faculty Articles

A trademark is any distinctive sign indicating that certain products or services have been manufactured or rendered by a specific person or company. This concept is currently recognized worldwide; however, the origin of trademarks dates back to antiquity when artisans placed their signatures or “marks” on their products containing an artistic or utilitarian element. Through time, these marks have evolved to such an extent that today, a reliable and efficient system for their registration and protection has been established. Besides protecting owners of trademarks, this system also helps consumers identify and purchase goods or services, which, because of the essence …

The Community Design: European Union-Wide Protection For Your Design Portfolio, Christopher M. Aide

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

How Important Is A Title? An Examination Of The Private Law Created By The Motion Picture Association Of America, Edward Robert Mccarthy

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Converting Intellectual Assets Into Property, Thomas G. Field Jr

Law Faculty Scholarship

The mouse and graphic interface were first commercialized on Macintosh computers. Yet, Steve Jobs is said to have derived both from the Alto computer developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. While Jobs became a billionaire, "Xerox completely failed to get into the personal computer business, missing one of the biggest business opportunities in history."

Preferring to be more akin to Apple than to Xerox, firms are increasingly mindful that their most valuable assets are apt to be ideas and information instead of land, buildings and inventory. Not capable of being fenced in or locked up, intangible assets can be …

Icannsucks.Biz (And Why You Can’T Say That): How Fair Use Of Trademarks In Domain Names Is Being Restrained, Adam Goldstein

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Commercial Law Collides With Cyberspace: The Trouble With Perfection – Insecurity Interests In The New Corporate Asset, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

Articles

The recent downturn in the economy, particularly in the e-commerce sector, reveals many e-companies heading toward bankruptcy with cyberassets, such as domain names, as their most valuable corporate assets. Lending institutions and other creditors that have extended loans to such e-companies obviously want to get their hands on these bankrupt estates. Which creditor will have priority in the new cybercollateral of domain names? The answer to creditor priority questions may depend on whether domain names are intangible property for purposes of secured transactions. If so, should security interests in domain names be perfected under the Uniform Commercial Code or under …

Icann's "Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy"- Causes And (Partial) Cures, A. Michael Froomkin

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Responsibility Of The Rulemaker: Comparative Approaches To Patent Administration Reform, John R. Thomas

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Patent administrators across the globe currently face the most challenging operating environment they have ever known. Soaring application rates, lean fiscal policies and an increasingly ambitious range of patentable subject matter are among the difficulties faced by the world's leading patent offices. These trends have resulted in persistent concerns over the quality of issued patents. Responding to recent writings questioning the value of maintaining high levels of patent quality, Professor Jay Thomas asserts both that patent quality matters, and that increasing the responsibilities of patent applicants provides a fair and efficient mechanism for improving patent office work product. This Article …

Two Wrongs Making A Right: Using The Third And Ninth Circuits For A Uniform Standard Of Fame In Federal Dilution Law, Scott Harvison

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment contains six main parts. Part II analyzes the Lanham Act of 19461 and the likelihood of confusion standard, which led to the enactment of the FTDA. Part III briefly examines the history of dilution and then looks at the FTDA. Part IV focuses on the FTDA's legislative history and intent. In light of the discussion in the foregoing parts, Part V examines differing interpretations of fame as demonstrated by the decisions by the Third and Ninth Circuits, which illustrate and incorporate the differing interpretations of the FTDA among other circuits. In Part VI, this Comment concludes by proposing …

Avoiding Intellectual Property Problems, Thomas G. Field Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarship

Patents, copyrights, trademarks, as well as trade secrets and related rights can be used to exclude free riders. These rights are usually collectively called "intellectual property" or IP. Everyone should know how to cost-effectively protect their own rights.

Intent To Use: A Failed Experiment?, Amy B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

When Congress enacted the Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988 ("TLRA"), it made the first truly radical change in trademark law since the passage of the Lanham Act in 1946. By adding Section 1(b) to the Lanham Act allowing applications for federal trademark registration to be based on an intent to use the mark, Congress for the first time provided a way to apply for federal trademark registration before actual use of a trademark. Congress made this change to bring United States law into closer conformity with the practice elsewhere in the world where use is not a prerequisite to …

Shifting The Paradigm In E-Commerce: Move Over Inherently Distinctive Trademarks, The E-Brand, I-Brand And Generic Domain Names Ascending To Power?, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

Articles

“What's in a name!” laments Juliet at her Shakespearean balcony. Four hundred years later, in the world of e-commerce, Juliet's question would be “What's in a domain name?” After spending all of the Montague's wealth, Romeo might be able to respond, “Call me but love.com.” The price tag for some generic domain names cost a small fortune: Sex.com for $250 million, Business.com for $7.5 million, Broadband.com for $6 million, Loans.com for $3 million, Flu.com for $1.4 million, and Bingo.com for $1.1 million.

In 1995, Procter and Gamble registered hundreds of generic domain names and offered them for sale at auction …

The Legal Battles Of G.I. Joe: The Jurisprudence Of Distinctive Fingernails, Action Figures, Ninjas And Distinguished Marines, A. Jack Guggenheim

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Sunbeam Products, Inc. V. The West Bend Co.: Exposing The Malign Application Of The Federal Dilution Statute To Product Configurations, Paul J. Heald

Scholarly Works

Some judicial opinions lack persuasive authority because they are poorly written. Others establish dangerous precedent or enshrine pernicious attitudes into law. Still others twist the language of prior opinions or misuse legislative history. Although a focus on rhetorical structure, effect on society, or quality of legal reasoning is helpful in identifying what constitutes a very bad judicial opinion, this essay will instead expose the blander evils of indifference and inattentitveness. My “worst” opinion -- Sunbeam Products, Inc. v. The West Bend Co. -- will not have a catastrophic effect on American life and culture, but rather provides an important illustration …

The Controversy Over Miss Piggy's New Friend: Issues Of Infringement And Dilution In Hormel Foods Corp. V. Jim Henson Productions, Laura L. Gribbin

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Product Differentiation Through Space And Time: Some Antitrust Policy Issues, Jonathan Baker

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Theft By Territorialism: A Case For Revising Trips To Protect Trademarks From National Market Foreclosure, Beth Fulkerson

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will argue that the "well-known mark" standard of the Paris Convention, which is also adopted by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Including Trade in Counterfeit Goods (TRIPS), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the European Community (EC), is an artifact of an era when markets were circumscribed by national borders and granting a monopoly on a trademark in one country on the basis of its use in another was unreasonable because the likelihood of confusion was minimal. Today, however, the trademark originator's intent to expand beyond its original market should be presumed. …

Ambushing The Olympic Games, Robert N. Davis

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

[email protected] - “Owning A Bitchin’ ” Corporate Trademark As An Internet Address - Infringement?, James West Marcovitz

Cardozo Law Review

Is the unauthorized use of a famous trademark as an Internet address infringement? In other words, to what extent may an individual, business, or corporation use another's trade or service mark. The Lanham Act prohibits the use of "any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services ... [which] is likely to cause confusion" as to the source of the goods or services in question. This Note examines whether the Lanham Act, in its current form, can be used to enjoin the …

The Illegitimacy Of Trademark Incontestability, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

The concept of incontestability in American trademark law has caused great confusion ever since its adoption as part of United States trademark law in 1946. This Article is first a study of the rational basis for incontestability in American trademark law. The role of incontestability in the larger regime of American trademark law is established in order to understand incontestability as it fits within the history of the common law of trademarks. This is fundamental in order to understand the significance of the thesis that incontestability is illegitimate. Next, acquisition of incontestability is presented in order to show how simple …