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Research summary: We build upon recent theories and studies about relational self to explain how a CEO's uncommon name may be related to a firm's strategic distinctiveness. Our theory explains why CEOs with uncommon names tend to develop a conception of being different from peers and accordingly pursue strategies that deviate from industry norms. We further suggest that the positive relationship between CEO name uncommonness and strategic distinctiveness is strengthened by the CEO's confidence, power, and environmental munificence. Using name commonness data from the U.S. Social Security Administration and financial data of 1,172 public firms over a 19‐year period, we find support for our theoretical predictions. Managerial summary: Using 19 years of data on 1,172 public firms, we show that firms' distinctive strategies are systematically linked to their CEOs' uncommon names. Psychological studies suggest that individuals with uncommon names tend to have a self‐conception of being different from their peers. Although many people may not have the confidence to exhibit how unique they believe themselves to be, CEOs do—they are generally confident individuals. It is thus predicted that CEOs with more uncommon names tend to pursue strategies that deviate more from their peer firms'. This pattern is even clearer when CEOs have a higher level of confidence, possess greater power, and operate businesses in an environment with more growth opportunities. Looking for unconventional leaders? You can often tell by their names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes issues on trademark law in the European Union (EU), particularly the use by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of the distinctiveness requirement to develop rational limits for the registration of product shapes. Also cited are the use of distinctiveness by international law as prerequisite in trademark protection, and the use of trade dress law to determine distinctiveness of a product.

Almost anything can function as a trademark. But in order to acquire federal protection, matter must not only be used in commerce; it must be used as a mark featured in a way that will draw consumers' attention to it and lead them to view it as a source indicator. In assessing trademark protectability, the USPTO and federal courts consistently emphasize distinctiveness over use as a mark: they focus on what the mark is, rather than what the mark does. Distinctiveness has received the lion's share of attention, generating rules and tests applied in thousands of cases and discussed in hundreds of articles, books, and practice guides. At the same time, courts have struggled to articulate and apply a clear standard for use as a mark separate from distinctiveness. Both are necessary for trademark protection because each plays a role in determining whether consumers will perceive matter as a mark. Yet, somehow use as a mark became the red-headed stepchild of trademark law, and distinctiveness got cdl the glory. While the Lanham Act requires use as a mark for protection, and empirical studies reflect its importance, courts and the USPTO have been reluctant to assign it greater weight in assessing trademark protectability, validity, and priority. This Article explores hoiv factfinders have considered (or failed to consider) use as a mark in both ex parte and adversarial contexts and argues that merging distinctiveness and use as a mark analyses would lead to more accurate outcomes. Ultimately, the relationship between use as a mark and distinctiveness is interdependent and inverse: the less distinctive a mark is, the more indicators of trademark use are needed to ensure consumers will perceive it as a mark, and vice-versa. Matter that functions primarily as something else--decoration, domain name, serial number, hashing--also requires more traditional trademark use to ensure it is perceived as a trademark. Integrating use as a mark with distinctiveness assessments would reinvigorate both doctrines and help ensure that statutory and common law requirements are met and chilling effects avoided by protecting only matter that consumers actually perceive as a source indicator. When it neglects consumer perception, ostensibly its core concern, trademark law itself fails to function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did the nineteenth-century trade marks registration system with its preference for distinctive trade marks accommodate Britain’s newspapers and reading publics, who seemed able to distinguish between newspapers despite their common descriptive names? In this article, it is argued that the situation presents another example of intellectual property law’s ‘negative spaces’, of creativity and innovation thriving in the absence of significant formal protection from intellectual property law. Moreover, it shows, yet again, the place of informal control in what is in other respects a formalised media industry sector. The historical analysis helps to explain the recent decision of an Irish judge that The Times and The Irish Times should continue to ‘co-exist peacefully’ in Ireland, with The Times permitted to launch a digital Times (Irish Edition) over the objection of the similarly named Irish Times, its nineteenth-century counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context effects in recognition have played a major role in evaluating theories of recognition. Understanding how context impacts recognition is also important for making sound trade mark law. Consumers attempting to discriminate between the brand they are looking for and a look-alike product often have to differentiate products which share a great deal of common context: positioning on the supermarket shelf, the type of store, aspects of the packaging, or brand claims. Trade mark and related laws aim to protect brands and reduce consumer confusion, but courts assessing allegations of trade mark infringement often lack careful empirical evidence concerning the impact of brand and context similarity, and, in the absence of such evidence, make assumptions about how consumers respond to brands that downplay the importance of context and focus on the similarity of registered marks. The experiments reported in this paper aimed to test certain common assumptions in trade mark law, providing evidence that shared context can cause mistakes even where brand similarity is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to analyse the protection of nontraditional trademarks according to the Romanian and European legislation and practice. Starting from the mere trademark definition, the registrability of each type of nontraditional trademark is assessed, taking into consideration the legal provisions and some of the most relevant decisions issued by the Romaninan PTO or at Europeean level. The three main elements to be considered are the following: firstly, the existing legal provisions with respect to that certain type of trademark, making short reference to the provisions in force before the republication of the Romaian Trademarks Law. A second point is that is analysed is the condition that a trademark should be rerpresented graphically, which represents a serious obstancle against the registration of certain nontraditional trademarks. Moreover, the changes brought by the new Trademarks Directive will bring a fresh perspective on this condition. The distinctive character of the trademark is another point thoroughly examined in connenction to various tyeps of nontraditional trademarks. Finally, short remarks with respect to the possible protection of nontraditional trademarks as unregistered trademarks are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the case of composite trade marks in the Medion AG v Thomson Multimedia Sales Germany & Austria GmbH. Topics discussed include assessment of the similarity between two trademarks; SMARTWEALTH element of the contested mark is a coined term and a distinctive mark in its own right; and opposition was lodged in terms of s5(2)(b) of the Trade Marks Act, 1994 on the basis of the mark WEALTHSMART.

The case law on composite marks is a contentious matter. This article considers the EU case law on the subject, and, as a consequence, respectfully suggests that the jurisprudence has not been correctly applied in cases involving composite marks in England and Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author argues that the Court of Justice of the European Union's (CJEU's) ruling in the 2014 joined Community trade mark (CTM)-related cases Intra-Presse v. OHIM, Golden Balls "does not expose any genuine loophole in statute nor in case law," but it reiterates a "global appreciation assessment of the likelihood of confusion" with regards to two signs. Trademark dilution, foreign languages, and a CTM dispute involving the Ballon d’Or football (soccer) awards. Distinctiveness is also examined.

En la mayoría de países del mundo las marcas notoriamente conocidas son protegidas, probablemente debido a la existencia de tratados internacionales que han promovido su protección, como en efecto ocurre en virtud del artículo 6 bis del Convenio de París. No obstante, en las Cortes de Circuitos de Estados Unidos de Norteamérica el tema parece no ser del todo claro, pues existe cierta ambigüedad con respecto a si la protección de una marca notoriamente conocida extranjera se encuentra o no incorporada en la Lanham Act. Este artículo desarrolla la anterior problemática a partir de la pregunta inicial y en el proceso se aproxima a las principales doctrinas jurídicas que abordan el derecho de marcas de Estados Unidos, y concluye que por el momento existe un conflicto entre los tratados internacionales que ha suscrito Estados Unidos y el Lanham Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reasons which the authors believe that trademark law is problematic for collaborative communities in places such as the U.S., and it mentions a naked licensing doctrine and the concept of distinctiveness under American trademark law. Open source software communities and a fair-use legal doctrine are mentioned, along with trademarks involving the Mozilla Corporation computer software firm. Several trademark system solutions (hacks) are also examined.

The article discusses the trademark protection and service marks of motion pictures, merchandising items and television programs in Republic of China including the identification and distinguishing of products, protection and preservation of right and the consequence of unregistered marks.

The article focuses on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and its clarification of trademark law in the European court case Société des Produits Nestlé SA v. Cadbury UK Ltd. Topics include the registering of three-dimensional (3D) products as trademarks, the distinctive character requirement, and the exclusive rights of trademark holders.

The article presents a survey made by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Board) for the analysis of consumer response towards de minimis. Topics discussed include the importance of expert evidence for the claims of distinctiveness of trademark in the proceedings of the Board, judicial opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court on the lawsuits related to trademark infringement, and the decision on the claims of distinctiveness in trademark design.

The article focuses on the various aspects of the impugned legislation of trademark its registration and licensing. Topics discussed include grant of third party exclusive rights for trademark registration, laws related to trade and commerce in Canada, and the laws for the regulation of distinctiveness of trademark. It further discusses various lawsuits related to trademark infringement.

The article focuses on the laws for regulating trademark licensing in Canada and the impact of current laws on the trademark registration on the completion of 21 years. Topics discussed include the importance of distinctiveness for trademark registration, the role of the common law in prohibiting the trademark licensing, and the judicial review of the decision on various trademark design and infringement cases.

The article focuses on the double identity rule under European Union (EU) law, which protects against the use of identical signs to advertise for identical goods and services. Topics include trademark law in the EU, the origin function, and protection against trademark dilution. Information is provided on international exhaustion in the EU.

The article focuses on the speech-act theory for signifying the concepts of linguist and philosopher J. L. Austin on performing works with speech. Topics discussed include role of speech-act theory in understanding the trademark law, significance of distinctiveness doctrine and role of speech-act theory as the source of communication. It further discusses the laws made for trademark registration.

The author discusses the European Union (EU) General Court's rejection in 2014 of German soft toy manufacturer Steiff GmbH's Community trade mark-related position mark application for the attachment of a button to the ear of a stuffed animal. The author argues that based on its 110-year history, Steiff GmbH should be able to obtain a registration for its "position" mark on the basis of acquired distinctiveness through use. The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) is assessed.

Trademark distinctiveness—the extent to which consumers view a mark as identifying a particular source—is the key factual issue in assessing whether a mark is protectable and what the scope of that protection should be. But distinctiveness is difficult to evaluate in practice: assessments of "inherent distinctiveness" are highly subjective, survey evidence is expensive and unreliable, and other measures of "acquired distinctiveness" such as advertising spending are poor proxies for consumer perceptions. But there is now a simpler way to determine whether consumers associate a word or phrase with a certain product: Google. Through a study of trademark cases and contemporaneous search results, I argue that Google can generally capture both prongs of the test for trademark distinctiveness: If a mark is strong—either inherently distinctive or commercially strong—then many top search results for that mark relate to the source it identifies. The extent to which results overlap between searches for two different marks can also be relevant for assessing the likelihood of confusion between those marks. In the cases where Google and the court disagree, I argue that Google more accurately reflects how consumers view a given mark. Courts have generally given online search results little weight in offline trademark disputes. But the key factual questions in these cases depend on the wisdom of the crowds, making Google's "algorithmic authority" highly probative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the European court cases Société Des Produits Nestlé SA v. Cadbury UK Ltd. and JW Spear & Son Ltd. v. Zynga Inc., which dealt with the registrability of exotic trademarks under European Union (EU) trademark law. Topics include the registration of smells, colors, and sounds under EU law and the distinctiveness doctrine in trademark registration.

The article focuses on the decision of Australian court on various recently executed cases Modena Trading Pty Ltd. v. Cantarella Bros Pty Ltd., Federal Commissioner of Taxation v. Resource Capital Fund IV LP and Motorcycling Events Group Australia Pty Ltd. v. Kelly. Topics discussed include distinctiveness of trademarks, income tax on the non-resident transaction of the shares of Australian companies and breach of contracts by the training institute. It also discusses the Civil Liability Act.

The article offers information related to liability for trademark Infringement, unfair competition, and related torts under the U.S. Lanham Act of 1946, trademark and unfair competition jurisprudence act. Topics discussed include effect of federal registrations on the mark-validity inquiry, common-law requirements for mark validity and use-based geographic rights under the act.

The article focuses on controversial issues related to the Lanham Act, trademark and unfair competition jurisprudence act of the U.S. Topics discussed include the issue of requirements for standing in false advertising actions brought under Section 43(a) of the Act, claims for infringement or unfair competition and eligibility of particular nontraditional marks for registration.

The intellectual property recognizes on incorporeal goods. We spoke of goods that are not equipped with matter and, for that reason, do not occupy physical space some. On this variety of things the State also can be recognized like proprietor. In a word, we try to study, among other subjects, the trademarks and others distinctive signs and original works of the State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article demonstrates the dogmatic implications of the trademark rights as a part of unfair competition law. It discusses the limits of the trademark monopoly. It further describes the theory of monopolistic competition related to trade dress rights, product differentiation and protection from limitative competition.

The article reports that the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) has obtained a British trademark registration for the slogan Scotland's Animal Welfare Charity. Topics discussed include the provisions pertaining to disallowed trademarks under Section 3 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, the challenges of registering slogans as trademarks under British law and the characteristics of a slogan that can be approved for trademark protection under the law.

The authors argue that the decision by the General Court of the European Union in the 2014 bottle shape trademark law case Franz Wilhelm Langguth Erben v. Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) illustrates the effectively tougher burden that is placed upon those parties which monopolise the use of a particular bottle design. A European Union (EU) Community Trade Mark Regulation and trademark distinctiveness are mentioned, along with registered word marks and EU laws.

The article focuses on the British court case Starbucks (HK) Ltd. v. British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, which dealt with community trademark violations under British intellectual property law. Topics include the distinctiveness requirement under British trademark law, passing off, and the establishment of goodwill.

The article discusses the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the court case of Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys vs. Registrar of Trade Marks regarding the use of class headings of the Nice Classification. It states that applicants of community trade mark who use class headings as specifications must show if they plan to cover all the goods and services. The ruling of CJEU on the need for class headings of the nice classification to be precise is cited.

Sky [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the decision of French courts in the case regarding the distinctiveness of trademarks with the usual designation of the goods or services and the decision related to the possibility for an artist to use in his artwork as fair balance between freedom of expression and copyright.

The article discusses the decision of the General Assembly of the Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals of Turkey related to use of trademarks that consist of a descriptive element identical to the one that is already registered. It mentions that the assembly's approach of making a likelihood of confusion evaluation by only comparing the phrasing in a trademark is a wrong approach. It informs that adopting such an approach will lead to people registering generic terms on related goods.

The Turkish Patent Institute has rejected a third party's abusive BENFICA trade mark application on grounds of it being a well known mark and because the application was filed in bad faith. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]