Abstract
This Note argues that the European Union must harmonize the protection afforded trademarks against dilution, and that the European Union should adopt legislation similar to the U.S. Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995. Part I discusses pertinent aspects of US and EU trademark law. Part I also describes the dilution doctrine and reviews the US and EU approaches to dilution. Part II presents the debate on whether to provide trademarks protection from dilution. Part III argues that the European Union should adopt a dilution statute similar to the Lanham Act's dilution provision because dilution protection is necessary to fully protect trademarks. Part III also asserts that only famous marks, as the United States defines them, should be offered dilution protection in the European Union. This Note concludes that the European Union should revise the Trademark Directive, defining the phrase 'likelihood of association' or deleting the phrase 'likelihood of association' and replacing it with a phrase that grants all famous trademarks protection from uses that cause dilution.
Recommended Citation
William T. Vuk,
Protecting Baywatch and Wagamama: Why the European Union Should Revise the 1989 Trademark Directive to Mandate Dilution Protection for Trademarks,
21 Fordham Int'l L.J. 861
(1997).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol21/iss3/9