Trademark Law - Fall 2016 
 
Course Description
 
This course provides an overview of trademark and unfair competition law.  We will discuss the purpose of these laws, the requirements for trademark protection, and the scope and enforcement of trademark rights.  Specifically, we will cover the concepts of distinctiveness, functionality, and use of a trademark; the procedural and substantive aspects of trademark registration; geographic limits on trademark rights; trademark infringement, dilution, cybersquatting, counterfeiting, false advertising, false endorsement, and the right of publicity; and defenses and remedies in trademark actions.
   
Required Materials
 
(1) Graeme B. Dinwoodie & Mark D. Janis, Trademarks and Unfair Competition: Law and Policy (4th ed. 2014). Please do not purchase or use an earlier edition of the casebook for the class.
(2) Fall 2016 Supplemental Update to the casebook (this contains new trademark cases and notes provided by the authors and it is available for free download here)
(3) I may distribute additional material for you to read on TWEN, in class, or on my website. A copy of the trademark statutes and other relevant trademark materials (e.g., Trademark Act of 1946, Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases, Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, state laws, treaties on trademarks, etc) is available on the authors' website here.  If you plan to practice in the Ninth Circuit (which includes the Southern District of California), I recommend reading the Ninth Circuit's Model Jury Instructions for Trademark Disputes.  

Reading Assignments
 
I. Foundations and Purposes of Trademark and Unfair Competition Law
1. Introduction
8/23: Pages 3-41 of the casebook (CB)

II. Creation of Trademark Rights
2. Distinctiveness 
8/25: CB 45-69 and pages 2-6 of the Supplement (Supp) (spectrum of distinctiveness, descriptiveness, and secondary meaning - Parts A and B.)
8/30: CB 69-93; Supp. 6-13 (generic terms - Part C)
9/1: CB 93-120; Supp. 19-25 (distinctiveness of nonverbal identifiers - sections 1 and 2 of Part D)
9/6: CB 114-39; Supp. 25-30 (finish distinctiveness of nonverbal identifiers - Part D)
9/8: CB 140-58; Supp. 30-44 (edge of trademark protection - Part E) 

3. Functionality
9/13: CB 159-94 (Parts A-C)
9/15: CB 194-220; Supp. 45-57 (Part D(1))
9/20: CB 220-45; Supp. 57-59 (Parts D(2)-(3))

4. Use
9/22: CB 247-76; Supp. 60-64 (Part A & B)
9/27: CB 276-301; Supp. 64-74 (Part B & C)
9/29: CB 301-31; CB 338-40; Supp. 74-76 (Part D)  

5. Registration
10/4: CB 341-52; Supp. 94-119; CB 365-68 (registration, exclusions from registration)
10/6: CB 368-72; Supp. 119-27; CB 376-95 (exclusions from registration)
10/11: CB 390-404 (exclusions from registration, incontestability); Answer to your first practice trademark exam question is due in class or via email to me at 4 pm  

III. Scope and Enforcement of Trademark Rights

6. Geographic Limits on Trademark Rights
10/13: CB 407-28; Supp. 129-46 (common law rights, registered rights, territoriality)
10/18: CB 428-34; CB 483-99; CB 510-19 (territoriality, evolution of confusion standard)

7. Confusion-Based Trademark Liability Theories
10/20: CB 519-42; Supp. 161-68 (likelihood of confusion factors)
10/25: CB 542-75; Supp. 169-73 (likelihood of confusion factors)
10/27: CB 575-81; CB 588-91; Supp. 173-86 (post sale confusion and initial interest confusion)
11/1: CB 592-620; Supp. 187-92 (reverse confusion, indirect and vicarious infringement)
11/3: Class cancelled - we will do a makeup class on Friday 11/18 at 1 pm in WH 2A

8. Non-Confusion-Based Trademark Liability Theories
11/8: CB 621-48; Supp. 194-204 (dilution)
11/10: CB 654-89; Supp. 204-05 (dilution, cybersquatting)
11/15: CB 725-28; CB 735-62 (counterfeiting, descriptive fair use)

9. Permissible Uses of Another's Trademarks
11/17: CB 763-67; CB 776-94; Supp. 221-30 (nominative fair use, first sale doctrine)
11/18 (Friday 1:00-2:15 pm in WH2A): CB 813-45 (use of another's mark in parody or speech)

10. False Advertising; 11. False Endorsement and Right of Publicity; 12. Remedies
11/22: CB 845-65; CB 873-82
11/24: Thanksgiving break - no class
11/29: Practice trademark exam is due to me via email by 10 p.m.; Friday classes meet instead of Tuesday classes - no class
12/1: CB 903-04; CB 934-43; CB 981-87; CB 995-98; Herb Reed v. Florida Ent., 736 F.3d 1239 (9th Cir. 2013) (I will post this on the course materials page of TWEN and send it to you via email)