Looking at the Lanham Act: Images in Trademark and Advertising Law

Abstract:     
Words are the prototypical regulatory subjects for trademark and advertising law, despite our increasingly audiovisual economy. This word-focused baseline means that the Lanham Act often misconceives its object, resulting in confusion and incoherence. This Article explores some of the ways courts have attempted to fit images into a word-centric model, while not fully recognizing the particular ways in which images make meaning in trademark and other forms of advertising. While problems interpreting images are likely to persist, this Article suggests some ways in which courts could pay closer attention to the special features of images as compared to words.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 58

Keywords: trademark, advertising, images

JEL Classification: K30, K39

Accepted Paper Series