UNCLC Student Seminar - Trademarks, Free Speech, and Inherently Valuable Expression

Professor Lisa Ramsey will  give an online seminar on Trademarks, Free Speech, and Inherently Valuable Expression

The title of Prof Ramsey’s talk is also the title of her forthcoming book for Cambridge University Press. She will talk about potential conflicts between trademark and free speech laws in the United States and other countries, and how countries might resolve these conflicts. She will also talk about why governments should consider not registering or protecting trademark rights in words, names, shapes, colours, and other signs that had intrinsic value in an industry or community before they were claimed as trademarks. Prof Ramsey calls these types of marks ‘inherently valuable expression’ and this concept includes generic and descriptive terms (like the phrase Super Heroes for comic books), common words and widely-used phrases displayed on apparel and other types of expressive merchandise (like the word Lifeguard for T-shirts and tank-tops), and representational shapes (like a human skull shape of bottles for vodka and other alcoholic beverages. 

The seminar will be chaired by Professor Estelle Derclaye.