Cultural Studies and the Common Law Passing Off Action

2017 ◽  
pp. 199-245
Author(s):  
David Tan
Author(s):  
Justine Pila

This chapter considers the meaning of the terms that appropriately denote the subject matter protectable by registered trade mark and allied rights, including the common law action of passing off. Drawing on the earlier analyses of the objects protectable by patent and copyright, it defines the trade mark, designation of origin, and geographical indication in their current European and UK conception as hybrid inventions/works in the form of purpose-limited expressive objects. It also considers the relationship between the different requirements for trade mark and allied rights protection, and related principles of entitlement. In its conclusion, the legal understandings of trade mark and allied rights subject matter are presented as answers to the questions identified in Chapter 3 concerning the categories and essential properties of the subject matter in question, their method of individuation, and the relationship between and method of establishing their and their tokens’ existence.


1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Anna Sharpe

The common law relating to the tort of passing off is the traditional means by which conduct threatening business reputation may be halted. During the past five years, the Federal Court of Australia has been called upon on many occasions to apply s 52 Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) to prevent such conduct. As yet, there has been no clear judicial statement as to the interrelationship and overlap between the two causes of action. This Article discusses the scope of the two causes of action in the context of an allegation of actual or threatened erosion of goodwill. The types of cases in which such allegation is usually made is then examined and suggestions given as to which cause of action should be relied on.


Author(s):  
Simon Deakin ◽  
Zoe Adams

Defamation, a tort that protects a claimant’s reputation, has been the subject of much debate in recent years, culminating in the passing of the Defamation Act in 2013. A tort of historic origin, defamation raises novel challenges in an age of internet and digital communication technology, particularly given increasing concerns about freedom of expression, and the protection of privacy. Like many aspects of the law discussed in this book, moreover, defamation has not been left untouched by human rights developments. The chapter begins with an introduction to defamation, covering the meaning of ‘defamatory’ and libel and slander. It then discusses elements of liability, both in the common law, and under the Defamation Act 2013; defences; damages; mitigation of damage; and injurious falsehoods and passing off.


Author(s):  
Paul Torremans

This chapter discusses the ways in which the common law, in the form of the law of tort, creates rights of action. It focuses on the torts of passing off and malicious falsehood, although attention is also paid to the ways in which defamation can assist. These rights are supplementary, and complementary, to the statutory formal rights. In particular, trade mark law and passing off closely overlap, although s. 2(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 preserves passing off as a separate cause of action.


Author(s):  
L. Bently ◽  
B. Sherman ◽  
D. Gangjee ◽  
P. Johnson

This chapter introduces the common law of passing off and the statutory regime that protects registered trade marks found in the Trade Marks Act 1994. It commences with a brief history of trade marks and the development of their legal protection. This is followed by a discussion on the ways in which legal protection of signs and symbols are justified. It then considers the international and regional background that informs and constrains the law on trade marks in the UK, with particular reference to registration and the harmonization of standards. The chapter concludes by looking at challenges posed to trade marks by electronic commerce and the use of trade marks as domain names, as well as the phenomenon of supermarket lookalikes or own brands.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-290
Author(s):  
Colm Peter McGrath ◽  
◽  
Helmut Koziol ◽  

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-185
Author(s):  
Edyta Sokalska

The reception of common law in the United States was stimulated by a very popular and influential treatise Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone, published in the late 18th century. The work of Blackstone strengthened the continued reception of the common law from the American colonies into the constituent states. Because of the large measure of sovereignty of the states, common law had not exactly developed in the same way in every state. Despite the fact that a single common law was originally exported from England to America, a great variety of factors had led to the development of different common law rules in different states. Albert W. Alschuler from University of Chicago Law School is one of the contemporary American professors of law. The part of his works can be assumed as academic historical-legal narrations, especially those concerning Blackstone: Rediscovering Blackstone and Sir William Blackstone and the Shaping of American Law. Alschuler argues that Blackstone’s Commentaries inspired the evolution of American and British law. He introduces not only the profile of William Blackstone, but also examines to which extent the concepts of Blackstone have become the basis for the development of the American legal thought.


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