Dilution and Trademark Registration

Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems, 2008

University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law Research Paper No. 08-06

44 Pages Posted: 10 Jul 2008 Last revised: 12 Oct 2012

See all articles by Robert Burrell

Robert Burrell

University of Melbourne - Law School

Michael Handler

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

In this article we seek to explore the relationship between dilution and trademark registration. We argue that existing mechanisms for protecting against dilution fit uncomfortably alongside the information function of trademark registers. We therefore explore, as an alternative method of affording trademark owners protection against dilution, a system of defensive registration of the type that emerged in the British Commonwealth in the 1930s. Our intention in doing so is not so much to put forward defensive registration as a model for reform, but more to use defensive registration as a mechanism to examine and problematize anti-dilution protection. In particular, we demonstrate that the objections that might be raised to a defensive registration scheme pose equally awkward questions for advocates of anti-dilution protection.

Keywords: Trade marks, trade mark dilution, dilution, function of registration, Schechter, Schechter's theory

Suggested Citation

Burrell, Robert and Handler, Michael, Dilution and Trademark Registration (2008). Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems, 2008 , University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law Research Paper No. 08-06, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1144362

Robert Burrell (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria 3010
Australia

Michael Handler

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Kensington, New South Wales 2052
Australia
+61 2 9385 2874 (Phone)

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