ABSTRACT
This chapter explores trademark law and issues of moral and social justice that arise in its implementation. By promoting similar treatment of similar branding efforts and removing unnecessary barriers, the IP system could promote interpersonal justice in several areas of life. The sports and entertainment sector, retail, restaurants, and consumer goods markets are highly dependent on brands, trademarks, and goodwill.
In some respects, the role of trademark law in promoting moral and social justice may be the most evident of all the domains of life and commerce that intellectual property covers. Trademarks regulate nearly every enterprise in society, and target some of the more blameworthy forms of commercial fraud. As a byproduct of common-law principles and as an international norm, trademark law may contribute to the promotion of high quality in the marketplace and to greater fairness in terms of information provision and the quality of direct-to-consumer ads.
Assessing trademark protection in view of social justice highlights unnecessary barriers to access. There are instances of exclusion from trademark protection as a platform for economic and social capital accumulation.
This chapter will consider the origin and extent of trademark rights, brand equity, goodwill, income growth, entrepreneurship, economic inequality, small and medium-sized enterprises, and social impact. Maximizing the social utility function of trademark protection requires attention to economic power, entrepreneurial opportunities, and impediments to personal and professional development.
Travis, Hannibal, Trademarks, Legal Remedies, and Social Injustices (January 31, 2023), Florida International University Legal Studies Research Paper (forthcoming); in The Cambridge Handbook of Intellectual Property and Social Justice, edited by Steven D Jamar and Lateef Mtima, Cambridge University Press, 2024, pp 131-157.
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