About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

38 N. Ky. L. Rev. 1 (2011)
On Nontraditional Trademarks

handle is hein.journals/nkenlr38 and id is 3 raw text is: ON NONTRADITIONAL TRADEMARKS Kenneth L. Port* I. INTRODUCTION International substantive trademark law harmonization has been an abject failure. This failure is manifested in the inconsistent treatment of nontraditional trademarks. This article exposes the perceived broad protection of nontraditional trademarks for the great deception that it is. By allegedly protecting nontraditional trademarks, the United State renders true trademark harmonization impossible. The United States itself and commentators go too far in expressing this protection. In fact, nontraditional trademark protection is extremely limited, very rare and almost never enforced. Yet, the United States requires trading partners to protect nontraditional trademarks as if it is a mainstay of trademark jurisprudence in the United States, when it is not. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the international community are in the process of harmonizing to this fictitious standard. This will render real efforts at genuine trademark harmonization even more difficult to attain. Part II of this article describes the setting of nontraditional trademark jurisprudence in the United States. It concludes that Americans boast of protection of odd appellations of source, but in reality, it is very infrequently accomplished and then only at great expense. Part III traces the etymology of the words symbol and device, the precise statutory terms upon which the protection of nontraditional trademarks rests. Parts IV - XI address each known type of nontraditional trademark. Specific data is provided to conclude that color and sound make up virtually all nontraditional trademarks and that the data does not support claims of nontraditional trademarks playing a meaningful role in United States trademark jurisprudence. Part XII presents a very brief explication of the Common Law of trademarks compared to the Civil Law of trademarks so that one can see the disparate views of trademark protection. Part XIII provides a normative attack on the protection of nontraditional trademarks and concludes that, in almost all cases, they do not operate as indicators of source and therefore should not be protected. * Professor of Law and Director, Intellectual Property Institute, William Mitchell College of Law. I am indebted to Madeline Bowie (2010) for her research assistance. I am also grateful to Jim Baker, Adjunct Professor of Law, William Mitchell College of Law and the members of my Contemporary Issues in IP class for their input and feedback of an earlier draft of this article. I am also grateful to Neal Axton, Reference Librarian, William Mitchell College of Law, for his research and input.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most