Trade Mark Law, Consumer Protection, and the Green Transition

This work-in-progress explores the intersection of trade mark law and consumer protection in addressing greenwashing practice. It examines how current UK frameworks such as the CMA Green Claims Code, advertising standards, and trade mark law, respond to misleading environmental claims. The discussion will consider the role of certification marks, behavioural insights, and whether better alignment between advertising rules and absolute grounds for refusal would be required. As this project is still developing, I am interested to discuss innovative ways to understand consumer perceptions of trade marks, the trade mark register and whether these perceptions should influence legal and policy approaches.

About the speaker: Dr Luminita Olteanu is an Assistant Professor at the School of Law, University of Warwick. Previously, she was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at LSE Law School and obtained her PhD from UCL Laws for the thesis 'Rethinking Trade Mark Reputation and Its Susceptibility to Dilutive Harms'.