Likelihood of Confusion in Trademark Law


Book Description

This file contains Likelihood of Confusion in Trademark Law by Richard L. Kirkpatrick which provides an overview of the multiple factor test - the generally accepted method of analyzing liklihood of confusion cases - as well as a systematic examination into each one of the key factors used by the courts to determine if likelihood of confusion exists.




The Confusion Test in European Trade Mark Law


Book Description

Introduction: The Likelihood of Confusion --Similarity of Marks --Composite Marks --Similarity of Goods and Services --Distinctiveness of the Marks --Assessing Likelihood of Confusion --The Timing of Confusion --Non-Traditional Marks and the Likelihood of Confusion.




Special Protection of Trade Marks with a Reputation under European Union Law


Book Description

When a mark acquires a reputation, it becomes a means of attracting consumers by communicating to them various messages going beyond the indication of commercial origin of goods or services. Thus, trade marks familiar to the general public enjoy a special legal protection regime above and beyond that afforded trade marks in general, allowing them to benefit from enhanced protection against reproduction or imitation detrimental to, or taking unfair advantage of, the distinctive character of the mark or its repute. This richly researched book, the first comprehensive guide to current European Union (EU) law and practice concerned with reputed trade marks, conducts an in-depth analysis of this extended protection provided by Regulation 2017/1001 on EU trade marks and Directive 2015/2436 under which it is mandatory across all Member States. Using a practical approach, focused on identifying and analysing the criteria for infringement of trade marks with a reputation in proceedings before civil courts and in administrative proceedings before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) or national trade mark offices, the author addresses such elements of the special protection regime as the following: prerequisites for infringement of the right to a reputed mark common to all recognised forms of infringement; how to demonstrate each type of infringement of the right to the trade mark with a reputation (blurring, tarnishment and unfair advantage); proof of reputation; distinguishing the concept of well-known trade mark; legitimate versus questionable justifications of the ‘due cause’ exception within the meaning of EU law provisions; use of a disputed sign falling under freedom of expression; identifying the role of likelihood of confusion under the special regime; and how to prove the existence of a link between the signs in dispute. The author pays detailed attention to the case law of the Court of Justice and General Court of the EU, as well as cases before the EUIPO and national courts. He takes into account research from a number of Member States (plus Switzerland), thus widening prior work in the field from its predominant English-language context. With this book practitioners will confidently approach cases before courts, the EUIPO and national EU trade mark offices involving enhanced protection of trade marks with a reputation. In addition, the book will help judges and trade mark offices examiners to interpret the EU provisions and assess claims regarding such reinforced protection. For scholars and students of intellectual property law, this book will prove a cornerstone volume in the field.




Likelihood of Confusion in Trade Mark Law


Book Description

Since 1994 European Union (EU) case law touching on trade mark confusion has become so diverse and has grown so numerous that it is difficult to see the wood for the trees. This is the first book to give a complete synthesis of the thousands of decisions that have been handed down over the past decades, illustrated with many examples and images. Providing a highly structured and complete overview of the confusion test and all assessment criteria as determined by the General Court and Court of Justice, the authors unravel the concept of likelihood of confusion and establish a sound and thorough methodology for resolving confusion in any trade mark case. Among the practical features offered by the analysis are the following: consideration of the constituent criteria of the confusion test through a simple three-step test examining the similarity among goods and services, similarity between different trade marks and global appreciation of confusion; the identification of the ‘relevant consumer’, including from territorial and linguistic points of view; guidance on procedural aspects of the confusion test before the EU courts, as well as before the EU Intellectual Property Office and its Boards of Appeal; identifying the dominant and distinctive components of a trade mark – phonetic, visual and conceptual; the concept of similarity and the Nice Agreement; the principle of ‘partial use’; effect of the terms of sale of the goods or services; consideration of the existence of a family or series of trade marks; and consideration of the effects of coexistence on the confusion test. Numerous illustrated examples of trade marks involved in confusion cases enhance the presentation. Any practitioner dealing with trademark confusion in infringement proceedings before EU or national courts, or in opposition proceedings before national offices or the EU Intellectual Property Office, will be enabled to approach each case with full awareness of applicable criteria of assessment. This much-needed synthesis of case law will quickly become a standard work among lawyers, examiners and judges acting in trade mark matters.










Trademark Law


Book Description

This all-new Fourth Edition of the benchmark one-volume guide to trademark law is marked by extensive new coverage, including vital analysis of: New trade dress case law interpreting the doctrine of utilitarian functionality in the wake of the Supreme Courts TrafFix decision. New issues before the Supreme Court regarding dilution protection under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act New Internet cases on jurisdiction and the effect of UDRP arbitration decisions on federal litigation. New case law under the recently revised Federal Rules of Evidence. Plus updated material on gray market goods and attorney/client and work product privileges, new tips on reaching settlement agreements, and the latest changes to the T.M.E.P. Filled with dozens of forms, documents, checklists, and color exhibits, Trademark Law provides you with all the field-tested, step-by-step guidance you need to select, search, use, reinforce, renew, defend, and expand trademarks. Comprehensive enough to serve new and experienced practitioners on both sides of trademark disputes.




The Right of Publicity


Book Description

Who controls how one’s identity is used by others? This legal question, centuries old, demands greater scrutiny in the Internet age. Jennifer Rothman uses the right of publicity—a little-known law, often wielded by celebrities—to answer that question, not just for the famous but for everyone. In challenging the conventional story of the right of publicity’s emergence, development, and justifications, Rothman shows how it transformed people into intellectual property, leading to a bizarre world in which you can lose ownership of your own identity. This shift and the right’s subsequent expansion undermine individual liberty and privacy, restrict free speech, and suppress artistic works. The Right of Publicity traces the right’s origins back to the emergence of the right of privacy in the late 1800s. The central impetus for the adoption of privacy laws was to protect people from “wrongful publicity.” This privacy-based protection was not limited to anonymous private citizens but applied to famous actors, athletes, and politicians. Beginning in the 1950s, the right transformed into a fully transferable intellectual property right, generating a host of legal disputes, from control of dead celebrities like Prince, to the use of student athletes’ images by the NCAA, to lawsuits by users of Facebook and victims of revenge porn. The right of publicity has lost its way. Rothman proposes returning the right to its origins and in the process reclaiming privacy for a public world.




Trademark Law and Theory


Book Description

Boasting an impressive list of contributors, this first edition of Trademark Law and Theory brings together a compilation of well-written and powerfully argued works by leading international academics. The book is certainly one of the most extensive and thought provoking overviews of contemporary trademark law and theory yet to be published. . . Whilst all the contributions share in common their examination of the rapidity of change within trademark systems, the editors should be commended on their generous seasoning of other cross cutting themes throughout the Handbook. . . This fascinating compendium enriches our understanding of the shape, substance, and form of trademark law and theory. . . this Handbook is perhaps a rare exception to the adage that no book can be all things to all men . Its broad sweep approach and cross cutting themes enable a range of interested parties, such as policymakers; academics in the fields of marketing, business, consumer psychology; in addition to the usual suspects; to dip in and out of the Handbook as they wish. . . a unique and erudite collection of essays concerning trademark law and theory. . . Odette Hutchinson, Communications Law Trademarks is an area of vital, practical everyday concern, and the idea of producing a volume that brings together the perspectives of 19 thoughtful and experienced legal scholars is a bold and exciting initiative. The present volume does not disappoint and the two editors are to be congratulated on orchestrating an ensemble that simultaneously informs and stimulates. The title is apt: it is truly contemporary and is highly theoretical and doctrinal in character, while the interesting choice of the word handbook suggests clearly that this is a work in progress, a snapshot at a particular time of the challenging lines of individual research that each contributor to the volume is undertaking. It is a fine addition to a larger series of research handbooks in intellectual property published by Edward Elgar under the series editorship of Jeremy Phillips. . . The editors have done a fine job in presenting this material in such a clear and coherent fashion. . . this is an excellent and rewarding volume of readings that will be of interest to anyone working in the area of trademarks, whether as an academic or as a practitioner. Indeed, for the practitioner it will be of particular value, in that it contains, and opens up, many areas of inquiry that may not always be apparent when working at the coalface of a particular problem. . . For both kinds of readers, the real value of the volume is to have so many different kinds of perspectives brought together within the space of a single volume. . . this is a handsome production: the publishers and editors are to be commended on the clarity and cleanness of the typeface and headings, the thoroughness of the index, and the accuracy of their proof reading. It has also been given a striking and evocative cover. Sam Ricketson, University of Melbourne Law School Australia, European Intellectual Property Review Trademark Law and Theory is a first-rate exploration of the issues that will dominate trademark law in the 21st century. Authors from five continents provide a truly global perspective on the present and future of trademark law. An exceptional collection of contributors and contributions. Robert Denicola, University of Nebraska, US This compendium is an excellent source of writing on all aspects of trademark law and practice by experts from Europe, the United States, South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. It will be a stimulating read for lawyers, academics, students and policymakers alike on the present and developing trends in law and policy relating to trademarks as marketing tools and cultural artefacts. The editors deserve congratulation on their concept for the book and their judicious selection of material. David Vaver, University of Oxford, UK All students, young and older, in the burgeoni




Trademark and Deceptive Advertising Surveys


Book Description

Focusing on the issues that trademark surveys address, this book offers practical tools for recognizing and appreciating good survey methodology and distinguishing valuable evidence. The authors examine design and analysis topics relevant when presenting, defending, or critiquing a survey. Combining theory and practice in one resource, it features actual and hypothetical cases while discussing how the courts have addressed these issues. Current and authoritative, this book provides strategic guidance on how to identify important issues, understand options, and the best way to handle them.