An Empirical Analysis of the Likelihood of Confusion Factors in European Trade Mark Law

Abstract

The empirical study of trade mark law is in its infancy, particularly in the EU. However, it may have much to teach us about how trade mark law operates in practice, particularly in the context of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) case law, which, because of the structure of EU trade mark law, is necessarily quite abstract. This study employs empirical methods to understand how the test for likelihood of confusion is operated by the courts.

Keywords: Trademark, Empirical, EU Law, Confusion

JEL Classification: K30, K3