• The current version of the syllabus and copies of most handouts will be available online at http://www.umich.edu/~jdlitman/classes/tm/tmsyl.htm


• A list of trademark reference materials available on the Internet is posted at http://www.umich.edu/~jdlitman/classes/tm/trademark.htm.


• The exam in this class will be a three hour, closed-book exam.


• I will revise the syllabus as appropriate, when we get behind, get ahead, or detour to discuss something new. I will also post links to related material that you may want to look at. Please check it often.

Schedule Change:
• THERE WILL BE NO CLASS ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28. I have scheduled a make-up class for Wednesday, September 30, from 11:45-1:10 in room 132 HH. An audiorecording of that class will be available for students unable to attend.

CASEBOOK:

• Jane C. Ginsburg, Jessica Litman, Mary L. Kevlin, TRADEMARK AND UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS (4d Edition 2007)
• 2009 Case Supplement and Statutory Appendix
• The bookstores made a mistake in ordering the supplement. They have placed a corrected order, but they can't tell me when they expect the supplements to be on the shelves. I have posted pdfs of the initial supplement assignments on cTools.
• In addition to reading the assigned casebook pages and statutory sections, please watch 30 minutes of television programming that includes product commercials every week

August 31 & September 1: Introduction, Background, and Deep Background

• Supplement pp.1-8
• Casebook pp. 1-42
• Explore the links to the United States Patent and Trademark Office at www.umich.edu/~jdlitman/classes/tm/trademark.htm#pto

September 8: What is a Trademark?

No class on Labor Day, September 7
• Casebook pp. 42-78
• Lanham Act §§ 2, 45 ( 15 U.S.C. §§ 1052 , 1127 )

September 14 & 15: Distinctiveness; Ownership

• Casebook pp. 78-84, 85-126
• Supplement pp. 9-20
• Lanham Act § 1(a) (15 U.S.C. § 1051(a))
• Optional:
  • Visit the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame on the Web.
  • View Charles Gentile's poster

 

September 21 & 22: Priority, Registration I

• Casebook, pp. 127-148, 157-190, 193-203
• Supplement pp. 21-38
• Optional:
  • Buy some Jack & Jones jeans
  • Read a review of the Bukhara restaurant; then visit the website for the Bukhara Grill
  • Check up on Dawn Donuts

September 29 & 30: Registration II

No class Monday September 28
Makeup Class Wednesday, September 30, 11:45 am -1:10 pm in room 132 HH



• Casebook pp. 203-64
• Supplement pp. 38-55
• Restatement (Third) of Unfair Competition § 17
• Lanham Act §§ 1(b), 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22 (15 U.S.C. §§ 1051(b), 1052,1053, 1054, 1062, 1063, 1064, 1066, 1067, 1072)
• Optional (but recommended): Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure §§ 1301, 1301.01, 1301.01(a), 1301.01(a)(i), 1301.01(a)(ii), 1301.01(b), 1301.01(b)(i), 1301.01(b)(ii), 1301.01(b)(iii), 1301.02, 1301.02(a) , 1301.02(c), 1301.02(d), & 1301.02(e)[on pages 269-283 of the Supplement]
• Also Optional:
  • View www.iloveblow.com  (Compare Liquid Blow)
  • Read the menu from Cafeteria
  • View www.uspto.com

 

October 5 & 6: Functionality; Loss of Rights

• Casebook, pp. 264-331
• Supplement pp. 55-67
• Lanham Act §§ 2, 10, 15, 32 (15 U.S.C. §§ 1052, 1060, 1065, 1114)
• Statutory drafting exercise:
  Redraft section 2 of the Lanham Act in clear, comprehensible English without changing its substance. To the extent possible, use language that non-lawyers would understand. Print out your draft, without putting your name on it, and bring it with you to Tuesday's class.
• Optional: Listen to Vertex's bracelet alarm

October 12 & 13: Likelihood of Confusion

• Casebook pp. 332-81, 391-403
• Supplement pp. 68- 82
• Optional:
  • Look at some wine on the web
    • Gallo Hearty Burgundy
    • Consorzio del Gallo Nero Chianti Classico
    • Banfi Col di Sasso
    • Robert Pepi Colline di Sassi Sangiovese
    • Folie a Deux Menage a Trois
    • Madrona Vinyards Melange de Trois -- (also read this update from the Sacramento Bee)
    • Leelanau Cellars
    • Chateau de Leelanau Vineyard
  • Read Google's new AdWords Trademark Policy

No class October 19 & 20
Classes meets on a Monday schedule on October 21
• Casebook pp. 403-433
• Supplement pp. 82-89
• Optional:
  • Check out the Harlem Wizards and the Washington Wizards
  • Shop at Attrezzi online
  • Purchase a Jenn-Air Attrezzi blender

October 26 & 27: Global brand identity strategies; Defenses

• Monday, October 26:  Guest lecturer Tina Pompey (J.D. 1986), Vice President for Intellectual Property, Fox Entertainment Group
• Casebook pp. 433-462
• Supplement pp. 89- 92
• Lanham Act § 33 (15 U.S.C. § 1115)
• Optional: Read In re Bose Corp. (Fed Cir 2009)

• Casebook pp. 462-67, 470-81, 543-83
• Supplement pp. 92-98, 106-08
• Lanham Act §§ 43(a) (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a))
• Optional:
  • View this image and this image from Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen
  • Visit Night Kitchen Catering

November 9 & 10: Trade Dress Infringement; False Designation of Origin II; False Advertising II

• Monday November 9: Guest lecturer Anthony L Fletcher, Fish & Richardson
• Casebook pp. 481-541, 543-45, 583-612
• Supplement pp. 98-108
• Lanham Act § 43(a)
• Drafting Exercise:
  • You have seen courts use the Polaroid factors test to evaluate likelihood of confusion in a variety of contexts, and have developed a sense of the test’s strengths and weaknesses. Take this opportunity to suggest an improved test for determining whether confusion is likely in case brought under § 32 or § 43(a). Draft a test to replace the Polaroid factors. Print out your draft, without putting your name on it, and bring the hard copy to class on Monday, November 16.
• Optional: AT&T has sued Verizon over this ad campaign. Is it literally false? Is it misleading? (Thanks to En Hong, Nicholas Chang, and Ferrial Lanton for the suggestion!)

November 16 & 17: Dilution

• Casebook, pp. 613-35, 640-41, 643-61
• Supplement pp. 109-133
• Optional: Michigan Law Review First Impressions, An Online Symposium on the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (2006)
• Also Optional:
  • Look at the John Deere logo and watch the Yardman commercial
  • Compare a Louis Vuitton purse with a Chewy Vuiton dog toy. Then check out Chewy Vuitton doggy day care.
  • Watch promotional videos for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baily Circus and for ski resorts in Utah.
  • Compare an Art Van furniture truck with a Hershey bar.
  • Compare McDonalds.com with PETA's McCruelty.com (Thanks to Becca Crocker for the suggestion!).

November 23 & 24: Referential and Promotional Uses, Parody

• Casebook pp.816-73
• Supplement pp. 159-64
• Optional: Enjoy more of Tom Forsythe's "Food Chain Barbie" photographs here and here.

November 30 & December 1: Trademarks as Speech; Review

• Casebook pp. 873-74, 885-911
• Supplement pp. 164-72
• Optional:
  • Watch Ralph Nader's "priceless" commercial
  • View "People Eating Tasty Animals"
  • Visit www.fallwell.com
• Handout