A Brand Theory of Trademark Law

60 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2010 Last revised: 28 Oct 2015

See all articles by Deven R. Desai

Deven R. Desai

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 6, 2010

Abstract

Trademark law is incoherent, and it fails to manage all the interests at stake in the modern business environment. This failure flows from a core misunderstanding. Trademark law has not grasped that is managing brands, not trademarks. In this article, Professor Deven Desai develops a new theory of trademarks which provides trademark law with a way out of its current confusion. Professor Desai argues that trademark law really protects brands and must fully embrace this fact. He demonstrates how his brand theory of trademark law will avoid the incoherence and problems from which trademark currently suffers and offers a framework to understand the purpose, function, and scope of trademark law.

Published version, titled 'From Trademarks to Brands', Florida Law Review, Vol. 64, No. 4, pp. 981-1044, 2012.

Keywords: Trademark, Brands, Confusion, Law and Economics, Marketing

JEL Classification: B20, D80, D82, D83, K00, K10, K19, K20, L10, L14, L20, L21, L11, L12, L40, L41, L42, M3, M30, M31

Suggested Citation

Desai, Deven R., A Brand Theory of Trademark Law (April 6, 2010). Florida Law Review, Vol. 64, No. 4, p. 981, 2012, Thomas Jefferson School of Law Research Paper No. 1585327, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1585327 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1585327

Deven R. Desai (Contact Author)

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States

HOME PAGE: http://scheller.gatech.edu/directory/faculty/desai/index.html

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