Which Reputations Does a Brand Owner Need? Evidence from Trade Mark Opposition

37 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2009

See all articles by Georg von Graevenitz

Georg von Graevenitz

Queen Mary, School of Business and Management; Center for Competition Policy; University of Glasgow - CREATe, RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy

Date Written: August 3, 2009

Abstract

At least two: the reputation of their brand and a reputation for being tough on imitators of this brand. Sustaining a brand requires both investment in its reputation amongst consumers and the defence of the brand against followers that infringe upon it. I study the defence of trade marks through opposition at a trade mark office. A descriptive analysis of trade mark opposition is provided. Building on this a model of opposition and adjudication of trade mark disputes is presented. This is applied to trade mark opposition in Europe. Empirical results show that brand owners can benefit from a reputation for tough opposition to trade mark applications. Such a reputation induces applicants to settle trade mark opposition cases more readily.

Keywords: Trade marks, Opposition, Intellectual property rights, Reputation

JEL Classification: K41, L00, O31, O34

Suggested Citation

von Graevenitz, Georg, Which Reputations Does a Brand Owner Need? Evidence from Trade Mark Opposition (August 3, 2009). CELS 2009 4th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1443425 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1443425

Georg Von Graevenitz (Contact Author)

Queen Mary, School of Business and Management ( email )

Mile End
London, E1 4NS
United Kingdom

Center for Competition Policy ( email )

UEA
Norwich Research Park
Norwich, Norfolk NR47TJ
United Kingdom

University of Glasgow - CREATe, RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy ( email )

10 The Square, Glasgow University
Glasgow, G12 8QQ
United Kingdom

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