Definition
A trademark dilution claim is raised whenever a new trademark, albeit it does not confuse consumers, produces detriment to the distinctive character of another trademark. Then the use of new trademark, although used in a noncompeting market, can still be forbidden because it weakens the distinctiveness of the already existing trademark.
Main Characteristics
Trademark dilution is a special kind of infringement that does not involve a direct violation, but it is rather a theoretically legitimate behavior that can nevertheless compromise the distinguishing effect of a given trademark (Economides 1998). It is forbidden by recently amended laws, and it is generally raised in the case of so-called famous or strong trademarks. Antidilution measures essentially enshrine the accomplished transformation of trademark into a property right over a sign and its semantic sphere (Beebe 2004; Ramello 2006). More precisely the goal of antidilution clauses is no longer to protect the...
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Ramello, G.B. (2019). Trademark Dilution. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_604
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_604
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