Trademarks

• Semester: Spring 2026
• Course ID: 286T
• Credit Hours: 2
• Unique: 29579

Registration Status: Closed

Description

PREREQUISITE: Must have taken at least one of the following courses: Intro to Intellectual Property, Copyright, Patent Law.

This course will explore the doctrine, policy, and theory of trademark and unfair competition law. Our principal focus is the federal Lanham Act, although we will also touch on state law from time to time. Trademarks can include such things as words, slogans, logos, product shapes and product packaging, smells, sounds, and so on, provided they are capable of becoming unique identifiers of source. Specific topics to cover (depending on time) include how a party obtains trademark rights; the scope and limitations of trademark rights; trademark infringement and dilution; the nature of trademark defenses, and the right of competitors and the public to engage in unauthorized uses of marks for purposes such as description, parody and comparative advertising. Along the way, we will discuss some of the modern controversies over the expansion of trademark rights, including the rise of the "brand" and "branding" over the past 25 years or so.