Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

What We've Got Here Is A Failure To Indicate, Laura A. Heymann

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property For Breakfast: Market Power And Informative Symbols In The Marketplace, P. Sean Morris

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article continues to examine an important question: are trademarks a source of market power, or, put differently, when are trademarks an antitrust problem? This fundamental question is a cause of division among antitrust and intellectual property law scholars. However, by raising the question and presenting some scenarios that can provide answers, my hope is that contemporary antitrust and intellectual property scholars can explore some of its implications. As part of my own quest to address this question, I explore the proposition that creative deception and the wealth-generating capacity of trademarks are unorthodox elements that actually contribute to allegations of …

Scotus's Second Take On Trademark Registration As Speech, Christine Farley

Editorial Contributions

Professor Farley offers her take on Iancu v. Brunetti URL: https://patentlyo.com/patent/2019/06/scotuss-trademark-registration.html

Automation & Predictive Analytics In Patent Prosecution: Uspto Implication & Policy, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Georgia State University Law Review

Artificial-intelligence technological advancements bring automation and predictive analytics into patent prosecution. The information asymmetry between inventors and patent examiners is expanded by artificial intelligence, which transforms the inventor– examiner interaction to machine–human interactions. In response to automated patent drafting, automated office-action responses, “cloems” (computer-generated word permutations) for defensive patenting, and machine-learning guidance (based on constantly updated patent-prosecution big data), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) should reevaluate patent-examination policy from economic, fairness, time, and transparency perspectives. By conceptualizing the inventor–examiner relationship as a “patenting market,” economic principles suggest stronger efficiencies if both inventors and the USPTO have better …

Spill-Over Reputation: Comparative Study Of India & The United States, Srividhya Ragavan

Faculty Scholarship

This paper compares India’s position with that of the US on the question of protection of well-known marks in the light of applicable international legal prescriptions. The discussion in this paper compares protection for famous foreign marks (as opposed to a famous mark). Famous foreign marks are those that have acquired fame in one country and hence, well-known in another country.

Right On Time: First Possession In Property And Intellectual Property, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern

Faculty Publications

How should we allocate property rights in unowned tangible and intangible resources? This Article develops a model of original acquisition that draws together common law doctrines of first possession with original acquisition doctrines in patent, copyright, and trademark law. The common denominator is time: in each context, doctrine involves a trade-off between assigning entitlements to resources earlier or later in the process of their development and use. Early awards risk granting exclusivity to parties who may not be capable of putting resources to their best use. Late awards prolong contests for ownership, which may generate waste or discourage acquisition efforts …

Legal Realism: Unfinished Business, Ramsi A. Woodcock

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Metaphors On Trademark: A Response To Adam Mossoff, “Trademark As A Property Right”, Brian L. Frye

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

The Trademark Dilution Revision Act's Nullifying Effect On Famous Mark Holder's Dilution Claims, Kathleen Bodenbach

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This comment will address how the TDRA has left famous mark holders, particularly high-end fashion house Louis Vuitton, with little in its arsenal to prevent others from mocking and devaluing its marks despite its worthy efforts. Part II addresses the relationship between trademark infringement, dilution, and parody. Part III takes a closer look at fashion giant Louis Vuitton’s strides to protect its famous marks and the courts’ differing approaches to assessing whether a parody exists. Part III also addresses the relationship between parody when it does and does not operate as a designation of source. Part IV offers a discussion …

Property And Equity In Trademark Law, Mark P. Mckenna

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This lecture focuses on the relationship between trademark and unfair competition. Specifically, this lecture discusses the way trademark law has evolved over time with respect to property concepts. There has been a lot of discussion in the literature about the ways trademark law has come to treat trademarks as property. Many scholars who have written about this “propertization” have described it as a shift from consumer to producer protection.

I have written a lot about this narrative over the course of my career—I think it is overly simplistic, and in some ways, wrong. Trademark law has al-ways protected marks as …

One Chuck, Two Chuck: Analyzing Whether Federally Registered Trademarks Should Be Distinguished From Unregistered, Common-Law Trademarks In The Context Of Converse, Inc. V. International Trade Commission, Mckenzie Subart

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This Comment analyzes which trademark model (the pyramid model or the box model) is a better representation and characterization of trademarks and trademark rights. Under the pyramid model, there is one trademark: both common law rights and federal registration rights attach to this single trademark. For the pyramid model, trademark rights resemble a pyramid because federal registration rights build upon the foundation created by common law rights. Common law rights and federal registration rights are interdependent. Under the box model, there is a common-law trademark and a federal trademark: common law rights attach to the common-law trademark, and federal registration …

The Right Of Attribution In Literary Works In Three Acts, By W. Shakespeare, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article charts the three phases in the evolution of the norm of attribution in literary works: the norm in England before and during Shakespeare's time, the emergence of authorship-based norms in the Romantic period (allowing moral rights to be enshrined in international copyright treaties) and their demise at the hands of postmodernism and New Criticism, and the current norms that aim to protect the integrity of educational processes and to inform readers and other users of books, plays, or other creative works about their "source." It tracks a debate during Shakespeare's lifetime on the difference between nonattribution and false …

Intellectual Property In Experience, Madhavi Sunder

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In today’s economy, consumers demand experiences. From Star Wars to Harry Potter, fans do not just want to watch or read about their favorite characters— they want to be them. They don the robes of Gryffindor, flick their wands, and drink the butterbeer. The owners of fantasy properties understand this, expanding their offerings from light sabers to the Galaxy’s Edge®, the new Disney Star Wars immersive theme park opening in 2019.

Since Star Wars, Congress and the courts have abetted what is now a $262 billion-a-year industry in merchandising, fashioning “merchandising rights” appurtenant to copyrights and trademarks that …

Ignoring Administrative Decisions Through Settlement: A Holistic Approach, Vincent Escoto

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Beyond Trademark: The Washington Redskins Case And The Search For Dignity, Victoria F. Phillips

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In her pioneering book, We Want What’s Ours: Learning from South Africa’s Land Restitution Program, Professor Bernadette Atuahene employs a detailed ethnographic study of South Africa’s land restitution program to develop the concept of a dignity taking. This article extends the application of Atuahene’s theory to the taking of intangible property arguing that the misappropriation of cultural identity and imagery for use as a federal trademark can also constitute a dignity taking in certain cases. Perhaps no effort has received more public attention than the longstanding battle over the Washington NFL football team’s name and its federally registered “Redskins” …

Innovators Beat The Climate Change Heat With Humanitarian Licensing And Patent Pools, Andrea Nocito

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Mechanical Timepieces & Intellectual Property Protection, Nicholas Douglas

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This article is meant to give you a basic understanding of mechanical timepieces—not just what they are, but how they are different from one another and why that difference is significant. Watches themselves do not need an introduction; they are ubiquitous and have withstood the peaks and troughs of social inequality and have persisted as a commonality between the rich, the poor and the middleclass since the beginning of their mass production in the 19th century. I focus here on the history of watches within the United States because, ultimately, this is a discussion of their legal protection under United …

The 'Jus' Of Use: Trademarks In Transition, Bita Amani, Carys Craig

Articles & Book Chapters

Changes to Canada's Trade-marks Act will soon permit, for the first time, the registration and enforcement of unused trademarks. Far from a mere legal technicality or practical exigency, this shift fundamentally alters the nature of trademarks and the trademark system. Traditionally, it is the use of trade indicia in the marketplace that determines title and acquisition of trademark rights; use that defines the scope and duration of rights; and use that gives rise to claims of infringement. By virtue of the "Jus of use", the trademark system has remained, over time, reasonably true to its rationale, encouraging and rewarding honest …

Lookalike Logos: Is A High School's Use Of A Logo Or Insignia Similar To That Of A University A Violation Under The Lanham Act, Keegan Girodo

Marquette Sports Law Review

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Music Videos: The Gray Area In First Amendment Protected Speech And The Resulting Trademark Consequences, Lindsey Gold

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

This Note argues for a federal classification of music videos as noncommercial, artistic speech under the First Amendment. As an artistic expression of a singer, music videos are no longer the promotional mini-movies they once were; they are now utilized widely by artists to express their artistic preferences—including the communication of social, political, and cultural doctrine.

The Commodification Of Trademarks: Some Final Thoughts On Trademark Dilution, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

This article is an explication of the trend toward commodification of famous or putatively famous trademarks and the resultant urging that the FTDA be repealed. This article starts with a literature review showing that the vast majority of commentators have been severely critical of the FTDA. This has been ignored by Congress. The article next pursues Congress's blind support of the FTDA and suggests that more thought and analysis from Congress is still required. The article next explains the data regarding FTDA claims. All reported cases from 1996 through 2015 are coded and examined. The conclusion, looking at the data, …

Ownership Of Intellectual Property In The Library Complex, Patrick Roughen

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In order to broadly explore intellectual property in the context of the library complex, this research examines the patents produced by companies that provide goods and services to libraries, as well as patents associated with international libraries. This paper also surveys the trademarks and copyrights held by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. This research suggests ways in which development of intellectual property by U.S. libraries might evolve in the future, with evidence obtained primarily through the searching of online databases.

Trademarks: German Manufacturer’S Deliberate Infringement Of Domestic Trademark Sufficient To Support Injunctive Relief, But Not Supportive Of Award For Damages, Kimley R. Johnson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Contents

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Trademarks “Lanham Act” Foreign Registrants Need Not Allege Use In The United States And May Waive Filing Requirements Required For Domestic Applications (Scm Corporation V. Langis Foods, Ltd., D.C. Cir. 1976), John A. Cutler

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The First Amendment Walks Into A Bar: Trademark Registration And Free Speech, Rebecca Tushnet

Notre Dame Law Review

This Article analyzes the First Amendment arguments against section

2(a)’s disparagement bar with reference to the consequences of any

invalidation on the rest of the trademark statute. My fundamental conclusions

are that In re Tam is wrongly reasoned even given the Supreme Court’s

increased scrutiny of commercial speech regulations, and that to hold otherwise

and preserve the rest of trademark law would require unprincipled distinctions

within trademark law. More generally, the Supreme Court’s First

Amendment jurisprudence has become so expansive as to threaten basic

aspects of the regulatory state; the result of subjecting economic regulations

such as trademark registration to …

Marketa Trimble Becomes The Inaugural Samuel S. Lionel Professor Of Intellectual Property Law, Marketa Trimble

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

What's The Harm Of Trademark Infringement?, Rebecca Tushnet

Akron Law Review

Abstract

Over the course of the twentieth century, judges came to accept trademark owners’ arguments that any kind of consumer confusion over their relationship to some other producer caused them actionable harm. Changes in the law of remedies, however, have recently led some courts to question these harm stories. This Article argues for even more attention to trademark’s theories of harm; a clear-eyed look at the marketing literature, as well as the facts of particular cases, indicates that confusion about non-competing products is often harmless.

Branded: Trademark Tattoos, Slave Owner Brands, And The Right To Have "Free" Skin, Shontavia Johnson

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Though existing for several millennia in various cultures, body modification through tattooing is becoming more popular in the United States. Twenty percent of Americans have at least one tattoo, and among Millennials this number grows to almost forty percent. As the popularity of tattoos has increased in recent years, so too have questions revolving around concepts of intellectual property and the plausible limitations of any rights stemming therefrom. This Article addresses the implications, for both the tattooist and the tattooed, of using trademarked designations as tattoos. Neither the courts nor Congress have definitively answered the question of how traditional trademark …

United States Response To Questionnaire Concerning Applied Arts Under Ip Law: The Uncertain Border Between Beauty And Usefulness, June M. Besek, Robert E. Bishop, Jane C. Ginsburg, Philippa Loengard, Nathalie Russell

Faculty Scholarship

ALAI-USA is the U.S. branch of ALAI (Association Littèraire et Artistique Internationale). ALAI-USA was started in the 1980's by the late Professor Melville B. Nimmer, and was later expanded by Professor John M. Kernochan.