March 11, 2013
Well It’s Spring Break I’m told, I’m in Toronto (which today alas is a bit gloomy and rainy like Vancouver where I’m often sitting) and so I had some time to read a few papers and cases over the past few days. I saw this paper today on my daily sweep of the web and thought that it was rather good and an interesting and clear summary of U.S. trade-mark rules and doctrines. This new American Antitrust Institute (AAI) paper discussing the intersection of antitrust and trade-mark laws also makes a number of interesting arguments for more restrained trade-mark enforcement and registration policies (in favor of competition), as well as potential Sherman Act and other arguments to challenge overbroad attempts to enforce trade-mark rights. In all, quite an interesting and worthwhile read I thought in a daily sea of data and developments. For a copy of the paper see: here. Abstract:
“A trademark can be not only a word or logo, but also a color, sound, three-dimensional object, and many other nontraditional items. Corporations are increasingly seeking nontraditional trademark protection instead of or in addition to traditional patents and/or copyrights. They are also enforcing both traditional and nontraditional marks more aggressively and in ways that may lead to significant foreclosure effects. This working paper argues that these trends may raise serious competition policy concerns that should play an important role in the evolution of trademark law. For instance, trademark registration and enforcement should be subject to the same antitrust constraints as other “ordinary” kinds of business conduct.”
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