FINA 2244 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Lanham Act, Cybersquatting, Trade Secret
Document Summary
Trademarks- is a commercial symbol that a manufacturer prints on its goods so they can be readily identified in the marketplace. Favored by the courts: suggestive- marks that hint at the product, more difficult to establish, descriptive- must be shown to have acquired customer recognition. Not as favored by the law: generic, extent of coverage- applies to titles of movies, advertising slogans, titles of comic books and fictional characters, such as batman, infringement, dilution, and cybersquatting- The marks become confused one with the other: cybersquatting- occurs when a trademark is used improperly in a domain name. Defenses to all of the above include: fair use- such as to mention a mark in comparative advertising, noncommercial uses- such as a parody or editorial commentary. Christina sheppard futrell, esq: news reporting or educational use, counterfeiting- the copying or imitating of a mark without authority to do so. Passing off goods as if original, i. e. handbags.
