Publication details
Legal understanding of brands: a critical perspective
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In my paper I will introduce brands as a central feature of modern economy, as well as explain the brand theory which forms a new normative approach to trademarks offering the opportunity to bring trademark law into the information age. In the first part of my paper, I will criticise the usual justification of trademark law, which focuses on preventing consumer confusion and which protects the expansive brand dimension whilst marginalising the consumers' role in brand creation. With that regard, I will emphasise the information approach which could clean up trademark law’s understanding of information. In the second part I will highlight the symbolic level of trademark law and introduce a socio-legal approach to trademark law. Then I will introduce cultural aspects of brands in order to explain cultural significance of brand-linked social media in creating the ideological magic of brands. Finally, I will provide a brief insight to consumer ideologies representing the political dimension of brands. The principal conclusion of the paper is that the synonymous use of the terms "trademark" and "brand" is an ideologically motivated legal misunderstanding because it neglects the increasing socio-economic role of brands. |
| Related projects: |