Congratulations to the Fall 2001 class for an excellent semester.
eCommerce will return next year.
Digital Trademarks I:
Introduction - Federal Trademark Law [link to
materials]
1. An Introduction to Federal Trademark
Law
2. The Business of Domain Names
2. Federal Trademark Law & Domain
Names
Introduction to Federal Trademark
Law
1. What is a Trademark?
Registration requirements (15 USC
1052)
distinctiveness (cannot be "generic")
no confusion with earlier mark
cannot be:
merely descriptive
deceptively misdescriptive
primarily geographically descriptive
geographically misdescriptive
primarily a surname
Duration
2. Trademark Actions
infringement: "likelihood of
confusion"
dilution:
famous marks
"blurring"
"tarnishment"
the statutory factors [15 USC
1125(c)(1)]
The Business of Domain Names
The Evolutionary Story of Domain Names
Are Domain Names "Trademarks"
or Something Else?
How are domain names being used by "consumers"
online?
Is the money worth it? (What types of
names are most valuable?)
What might change in the future? (Is
this likely to be a long-term market?)
Federal Trademark Approaches
case
trademark
use
theory of confusion?
theory of dilution?
result
Panavision
"panavision"
panavision.com
infringement
Bally Total
Fitness
"bally"
"bally sucks"
no infringement
PETA
"peta"
peta.org
infringement
Hasbro v. Clue
Computing
"clue"
clue.com
no infringement
How would you describe the difference
between the cases? What is the "legal rule"?
Consider: What should Panavision have
done when Toeppen suggested that he would sell panavision.com
to them? Would the world be a different place today?