Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law.pdfVIP

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal Volume 16, Issue 4 2006 Article 6 VOLUME XVI BOOK 4 Why We Are Confused about the Trademark Dilution Law Christine Haight Farley American University Washington College of Law c Copyright 2006 by the authors. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal is produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress). /iplj FARLEY_091606_CLEAN 9/17/2006 6:00:04 PM Why We Are Confused about the Trademark Dilution Law * Christine Haight Farley Trademark law, like copyright law and patent law, achieves its policy objectives by granting what would be monopoly rights but for the important limitations on these rights. In the case of trademarks, the stated goal is to prevent consumer confusion. 1 The law achieves this goal by granting trademark owners exclusive rights over a broad and indefinite subject matter for an indefinite term.2 Thus, trademark law has a broader subject matter and duration than patent and copyright law, but it is narrower in scope than the others. Trademark owners’ rights are saved from being over-broad and thus an offensive monopoly by the restriction that they be exercised only in situations in which the defendant’s use of the mark would be likely to injure consumers by causing * Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law. Regan Fitzgerald and Brandon Gantus provided invaluable research assistance. I thank the