Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law
- The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Editors and Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part One International Aspects of Trademark Protection
- Part Two Comparative Perspectives on Trademark Protection
- I The Nature and Functions of Trademarks
- II Signs That Can Be Protected as Trademarks
- III Public Policy Limitations of Trademark Subject Matter
- IV The Relationship between Trademarks and Geographical Indications
- V Certification and Collective Marks
- VI The Relationship between Trademark Law and Advertising Law
- VII The Relationship between Trademark Law and the Right of Publicity
- VIII Trademarks and Domain Names
- IX Overlapping Rights
- X Theories Underlying the Standards for Trademark Infringement
- XI Trademark Dilution
- 29 US Anti-Dilution Law in Historical and Contemporary Context
- 30 Dilution and Damage beyond Confusion in the European Union
- XII Secondary Trademark Liability
- XIII Trademark Defenses
- XIV The Principle of Exhaustion of Trademark Rights
- XV Trademark Transactions
- Index
30 - Dilution and Damage beyond Confusion in the European Union
from XI - Trademark Dilution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2020
- The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law
- The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Editors and Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part One International Aspects of Trademark Protection
- Part Two Comparative Perspectives on Trademark Protection
- I The Nature and Functions of Trademarks
- II Signs That Can Be Protected as Trademarks
- III Public Policy Limitations of Trademark Subject Matter
- IV The Relationship between Trademarks and Geographical Indications
- V Certification and Collective Marks
- VI The Relationship between Trademark Law and Advertising Law
- VII The Relationship between Trademark Law and the Right of Publicity
- VIII Trademarks and Domain Names
- IX Overlapping Rights
- X Theories Underlying the Standards for Trademark Infringement
- XI Trademark Dilution
- 29 US Anti-Dilution Law in Historical and Contemporary Context
- 30 Dilution and Damage beyond Confusion in the European Union
- XII Secondary Trademark Liability
- XIII Trademark Defenses
- XIV The Principle of Exhaustion of Trademark Rights
- XV Trademark Transactions
- Index
Summary
Dilution is commonly defined as the “gradual whittling away of the distinctive character of a trademark.” An action against dilution is relevant in cases where the consumer is not confused as to the commercial origin of goods or services and where the same or similar sign is used in relation to dissimilar goods or services for which the claimant’s mark is registered. Yet the original concept articulated in the first case considering protection of a trademark beyond the notion of confusion and similarity of goods, the 1924 Odol decision of the Landgericht at Elberfeld in Germany, speaks of damage to the drawing or selling power of a mark leading to the lessening of the mark’s significance in its own market, even if the goods to which the defendant applies the same sign are not in competition with the plaintiff’s goods. This contribution assesses whether the common definition of dilution fully encompasses the type of damage that goes beyond confusing uses. The contribution also addresses the question of whether from an international and domestic European Union perspective the protection of reputational value of a trademark is commensurate to the protection of the “interest of the owner” the Trade Related Aspects to Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) defines as a minimum standard in the context of protection of well-known marks under 6bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention).
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020