Pryor Cashman Partner Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme, co-chair of the firm's Trademark Group, talked to Bloomberg Law about the history of trademark dilution in the context of recent IP lawsuits filed by Jack Daniel's and Christian Dior.
In "Jack Daniel's, Dior Cry 'Dilution' as Toys, Porn Star Ape Brands," Dyan looks back to competition law from the early 20th century to help understand contemporary trademark dilution issues:
Trademark attorney Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme of Pryor Cashman LLP also pointed back in history, but said the essence of dilution law lies in unfair competition law. She said in the 1920s, unfair competition law was focused on not allowing someone to "trade on the fruits of somebody else's labor." But that evolved in trademark contexts to largely duplicate infringement analyses, she said.
"It became about confusion, only confusion. Dilution makes up for the failure of unfair competition case law," Finguerra-DuCharme said. "It goes back to the idea that the brand owner should be able to protect its intellectual property, and no one else should be able to benefit from the fruits of that labor. You can't have a Nike Swoosh on a bag of chips."
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