Tuesday 29 November 2011 at 1245
Intellectual Property Discussion Group
The Confusion Trap: Rethinking a Parody Defense in Trademark Law
Speaker: David A. Simon, University of Cambridge
Venue: Oxford Law Faculty Senior Common Room
In this Article I examine the parody defense in U.S. trademark law using two lenses. The first lens is trademark doctrine itself. Here I explore the various approaches courts use to resolve trademark disputes involving parody. The other lens is copyright law. Though this lens I examine how courts deciding trademark parody disputes employ the Supreme Court’s most recent exposition on parody in copyright, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose. I also use this decision to examine the relationship between copyright and trademark parody claims. In other words, I ask the following questions: how, if at all, are copyright and trademark claims related in parody cases.
Each perspective reveals something different. The first perspective shows that most courts resolve infringement claims by evaluating parody within some form of the likelihood of confusion test. It also shows that most courts assess dilution claims by analyzing parody as a form of noncommercial speech. The second perspective shows that copyright and trademark claims are related in a positive direction: if a parody case involves both copyright and trademark claims, courts always find for the defendant (no infringement) on both claims. Filtering the analysis through these two lens, I seek to sketch two revised parody tests—one for infringement and one for dilution. Both tests attempt to differentiate parody analyses from the traditional likelihood of confusion and dilution tests. These new approaches—which strengthen speech protections but do not create absolute defenses—account for the legitimate interests of both trademark owners and parodists.
For more information please see the event website or contact: Daniela Simone
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Organised by the Intellectual Property Discussion Group
