What is trademark dilution and what does anti-dilution statutes protect? Those are the primary questions that the dissertation seeks to answer. When a well-known trade mark is used by a non-competitor in such a way that the misrepresentation is created that the latter's performance has the same source or origin as the well-known trademark, it is called trademark misappropriation. One of the main reasons for the misappropriation is to promote the latter's product and/or performance and thus benefit from it. Whether we call it use or abuse…it is the dilution of the advertising value of the well-known trademark. The dissertation investigates the concept of dilution in order to establish the specific interest that is protected against dilution. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Private Law / unrestricted

Magister Legum - LLM / The rights relating to a trademark are said to be found in the fact that proprietors have acquired goodwill and a repute in their mark. Trademark law has always protected that aspect of what a trademark embodied, inter alia, to serve as a symbol of where a product originates from and guarantee quality by the setting the registered trademark proprietor’s goods apart from those of his competitor. The dilution of a trademark is one of the most challenging issues facing the sphere of trademark law in South Africa. Trademark proprietors have in the past relied successfully on primary and secondary or extended infringement. There has, however, been a dearth of cases on infringement by dilution thus far. The research in this study will primarily take the form of an evaluation of the development of the anti-dilution action and why there is dearth of successful cases in South Africa. Trademark proprietors are at risk of suffering financial loss if they are not able to protect their marks from dilution. The thesis will make recommendations whether the dilution provision contained in the Act need reform or whether the approach to the application of the anti-dilution provisions by our judiciary needs to change.

Thesis (LLD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Trade marks are among the most valuable commodities of the modern business world. Adequate protection for trade marks to prevent the misappropriation of their incredible marketing power is therefore important. The aim of this dissertation is to make recommendations regarding the further development of existing South African law regarding the protection of registered trade marks against dilution, particularly by the courts. Current statutory protection is examined and compared with trade-mark law in the United States and the European Union. Although the concept of dilution originated in Germany, most of its development took place in the United States, starting in 1927 with an article by Frank Schechter. Dilution occurs when the awareness that a specific mark signifies a single product from a single source changes to an unmistakable awareness that the same mark signifies various things from various sources. The primary theories as to how dilution occurs are blurring and tarnishment. Although the dilution concept is widely recognised, there is still a debate amongst legal scholars on whether trade marks deserve protection against dilution. The extent of protection that the law gives to trade marks largely depends on the socioeconomic functions that a trade mark is perceived to fulfil. The original source or origin function is protected by the traditional infringement provisions. The identification or distinguishing function, quality function and advertising function subsequently gained recognition. The advertising function is statutorily recognised in various jurisdictions, which prevents trade-mark dilution. Statutory recognition of dilution in the United States first occurred in State law from 1947 onwards. Protection is generally given to distinctive or strong trade marks where a similar mark is used on dissimilar goods in the absence of confusion in such a way that there is a likelihood that the reputation of the senior mark will be injured. The parameters of the concept were developed and refined mainly through case law. Federal protection against dilution was only introduced in 1995. The new Act, although widely welcomed, also brought some unpredictability and interpretation problems. The first statutory dilution protection for trade marks in Europe is found in the Uniform Benelux Trade Marks Act. In 1989 the European Union adopted the Trademark Directive, with the aim of harmonising the legal protection afforded to trade marks. Its "dilution" provisions were incorporated into the United Kingdom's Trade Marks Act of 1994. The sometimes conflicting interpretations of these provisions by the English courts and the Court of Justice of the European Communities are discussed. The South African Act shows a substantial degree of harmony with legislation in the United Kingdom and other European countries. Aspects of the wording of the dilution provisions are however open to interpretation by the courts. Until the end of 2003 there was only one major trade-mark dilution case decided by a South African court, namely SAR v Laugh It OjJPromotions, which is discussed in detail. The dissertation concludes with recommendations to aid South African courts in the future interpretation and application of the dilution provisions. Amendments to the legislation are also proposed to promote greater clarity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Handelsmerke is van die waardevolste kommoditeite van die moderne besigheidswêreld. Voldoende beskerming om die uitbuiting van handelsmerke se ongelooflike bemarkingskrag te verhoed, is daarom belangrik. Die oogmerk van die proefskrif is om aanbevelings te maak vir die verdure ontwikkeling van bestaande Suid-Afrikaanse reg oor die beskerming van geregistreerde handelsmerke teen verwatering, veral deur die howe. Die bestaande statutêre beskerming word ondersoek en vergelyk met die reg op handelsmerke in the Verenigde State en die Europese Unie. Alhoewel die verwateringskonsep sy oorsprong in Duitsland het, is die konsep hoofsaaklik in die Verenigde State ontwikkel, beginnende in 1927 met 'n artikel deur Frank Schechter. Verwatering vind plaas wanneer die bewustheid dat 'n spesifieke merk 'n enkele produk vanuit 'n enkele bron aandui verander na 'n onmiskenbare bewustheid dat dieselfde merk verskillende dinge vanuit verskillende bronne aandui. Die primêre verskyningsvorme van verwatering is vertroebeling en besoedeling. Alhoewel die verwateringskonsep wye erkenning geniet, is daar steeds 'n debat onder regsgeleerdes oor die verdienstelikheid van die beskerming teen verwatering. Die mate van beskerming wat die reg aan handelsmerke verleen, hang grootliks af van wat gesien word as die sosio-ekonomiese funksies van 'n handelsmerk. Die aanvanklike oorsprongsfunksie word beskerm deur die tradisionele bepalings rakende inbreukmaking. Die identifiserings- of onderskeidingsfunksie, die kwaliteitsfunksie en die reklamefunksie het later erkenning gekry. Die reklamefunksie word in verskillende jursidiksies statutêr erken, wat die verwatering van handelsmerke verhoed. In die Verenigde State het die eerste statutêre erkenning vir verwatering sedert 1947 in die wetgewing van State plaasgevind. Beskerming is normaalweg gegee aan sterk handelsmerke of handelsmerke wat kan onderskei in gevalle waar 'n soortgelyke merk gebruik is op ongelyksoortige goedere in die afwesigheid van verwarring op so 'n wyse dat die waarskynlikheid bestaan dat die reputasie van die senior merk aangetas kan word. Die maatstawwe van die konsep is hoofsaaklik ontwikkel en verfyn in hofsake. Federale beskerming teen verwatering is eers in 1995 ingestel. Alhoewel dié nuwe wetgewing wyd verwelkom is, het dit ook onvoorspelbaarheid en interpretasieproblerne voortgebring. Die "Uniform Benelux Trade Marks Act" het die eerste statutêre beskerming teen die verwatering van handelsmerke in Europa gebied. Die "Trademark Directive" is in 1989 deur die Europese Unie aanvaar met die doelom die wetlike beskerming van handelsmerke the harmonieer. Die "verwaterings"bepalings is geïnkorporeer in die Verenigde Koninkryk se "Trade Marks Act" van 1994. Soms botsende interpretasies hiervan is deur die Engelse howe en die Geregshofvan die Europese Unie gegee. Die Suid-Afrikaanse wetgewing toon 'n groot mate van ooreenstemming met wetgewing in the Verenigde Koninkryk en ander Europese lande. Aspekte van die bewoording van die verwateringsbepalings is oop vir interpretasie deur die howe. Tot en met die einde van 2003 was daar slegs een belangrike saak oor handelsmerkverwatering wat deur 'n Suid-Afrikaanse hof beslis is, naamlik SAB v Laugh It Off Promotions. Dit word in detail bespreek. Aanbevelings om die Suid-Afrikaanse howe in die toekoms te help met die interpretasie en aanwending van die verwateringsbepalings, word in die finale hoofstuk gemaak. Veranderinge aan die wetgewing word ook voorgestel, om groter duidelikheid te bereik.

This thesis is dealing with legal means for enforcement of intellectual property rights. It is focused on rights to marking, namely trademarks, indication of source, apellations of origin and domain names. The work analyses and characterizes individual legal means and shows possibilities of their use. There are presented procedures of enforcement of rights to marking, definitions of terms and practical examples. The works concentrate not only on Czech legal regulations but also on legal regulations of the European Union and legal regulations of international institutions such as for example agreement TRIPS.

Les conflits entre les noms de domaine et les marques de commerce surgissent essentiellement par manque de coordination entre le système d'enregistrement des noms de domaine et celui des marques. Les marques sont enregistrées par des autorités publiques gouvernementales et les droits qui en découlent ne peuvent s'exercer que sur le territoire du pays d'origine. Le système d'enregistrement des noms de domaine, basé sur la règle "du premier arrivé, premier servi", ne connaît pas de limites géographiques et ignore le principe de spécialité propre aux marques de commerce. L'absence de lien entre ces deux systèmes a permis, l'enregistrement comme noms de domaine par des tiers, de marques de commerce de renom suscitant la confusion quant aux origines des sites. Le nom de domaine constitue un nouveau signe distinctif se situant à la frontière de la régulation technique et du contenu et représente le cadre idéal pour étudier les fondements légitimes de l'intervention du droit dans le cyberespace. En effet, le système des noms de domaine se construit autour de choix et de contraintes techniques dont les concepteurs n'imaginaient pas qu'ils deviendraient la source d'un important contentieux. Les noms de domaine, portes d'accès au réseau, font l'objet d'une tentative de régulation qui concilie les forces contraires de l' ''aterritorialité'' des noms de domaine, avec la "territorialité" des marques de commerce. Cette régulation repose sur la synergie entre l'architecture technique, les normes sociales, l'autoréglementation, le marché et la loi et se présente comme un laboratoire d'idées pour une définition de la régulation de l'Internet. La problématique des noms de domaine et des marques de commerce, constitue une application pratique de cette "corégulation" et amorce ainsi une évolution juridique, facteur de construction du droit sur l'Internet. / Conflicts between domain names and trademarks law, mainly arise from the lack of coordination between their registration processes. The choice and registration of domain names is not subject to any formal regulation and is established on a "first-come first-serve" basis and trademarks are instead subject to a statutory system. Moreover, an important difference between trademarks and domain names is the scope of their reach. Domain names have an instantaneous transnational presence, while trademark law depends on a legislative territory. When a trademark holder wishes to establish himself on the Internet, the holder is sometimes confronted with the fact that someone has already registered a domain name using his own mark. Domain names, as new commercial identifiers, are gateways to web sites and have become one of the most contentious legal issues on the Internet. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to study the legal interactions in cyberspace in order to find solutions on how they should be handled. The Domain Name System (DNS) is an ideal framework to do so. The current controversy over the Internet’s DNS raises important questions about how the Internet should be administered and governed. A Governance, resulting from the synergy between the technical architecture, social norms, self-regulation, contracts and the law, is not unique to cyberspace. However, the conflict between domain names and trademarks c1early shows the need to search for new directions and develop policy cooperation (or regulated self regulation) in order to predict, establish and monitor the rules governing the Internet.

The purpose of my thesis is to provide general requirements for the registrability of trademarks and to analyse particular grounds for refusal of registration of trademarks according to czech law. The thesis is composed of four main chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of czech trademark law. Chapter One outlines brief history of the very first legislation dealing with trademarks and their registrability until recent days. Chapter Two is introductory and defines basic terminology used in the thesis and also presents categories of trademarks. The chapter is subdivided into five parts. Part One deals wiht national trademarks, part Two focuses on international trademarks, part Three deals with well-known trademarks. The last part presents the Nice clasification established by the Nice Agreement. Chapter Three provides an outline of all absolute grounds for refusal of registration of trademarks under the czech law. The chapter concentrates on particular absolute grounds; the chapter is subdivided into ten parts, each of them dealing with one particular absolute ground. The chapter also illustrates the approach to decision-making by trial courts and practice of competent authorities. Chapter Four concentrates on all relative grounds for refusal of registration of trademarks under czech...

Parallel imports and trademark law in the Czech Republic This thesis goal is to provide a basic introduction to Czech trademark law and to analyse parallel imports. I wanted to emphasize the "exhaustion of rights "principle in the context of the law of the European Union also in the context of law in the Czech Republic. It covers some of the most intriguing aspects of parallel imports for example "placed on the market", "consent of a trade mark owner", "repackaging and other changed of the parallel imported goods "by examining the most important Court of Justice of the European Union (before European Court of Justice) decisions that have set a solid legal environment and use them to explain how parallel imports have evolved. The thesis focuses on Czech and European trademark law and parallel imports in the law of the Czech Republic, as a member state of European Union. At the first part of thesis I explain what is trademark law, it's sense and intent in general. I also examine the fundamental sources of Czech national trademark law, trademark law of the European Union and international law. Which is followed by description what a "trademark" is and which trademarks are protected in Czech Republic, their functions and "trademark owners" as a basics terminology of trademark law in Czech Republic. Next part...

This paper compares legal systems of trademark law in Czech Republic and Peoples Republic of China with focus on trademark legislation. The goal of this thesis is to provide the reader with a view of Czech and Chinese mentality towards trademarks as it evolved in time. This historical comparison of trademark evolution should mainly serve as a guideline to understanding as to why each legal system chose such legislation even though both are part of the civil law system. Another goal is to present the reader to a complete view of Chinese trademark legislation with focus on those aspects that are the most different for Czech trademark legislation and also to present specifics of Chinese and Czech trademark legislation which would be hard to find in its counterpart. This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter describes the basic concepts that are essential to this thesis, with focus on those, that are significant for the comparison of both legislations. Second chapter provides complete explanation of historical evolution of trademarks in both countries, with focus on historical evolution of trademarks in China. Third and longest chapter deals with the actual comparison of both legislations, with the main focus on Chinese legislation. Each subchapter starts with a description of a...

The work presented in this thesis explores the investigation and development of programmable modular synthesis. A computer-controlled system has been used to navigate through a network of organic reactions. In particular, this decision making system was developed in order to navigate reaction networks according to the reaction diversity. Finally, the potentiality of increasing the versatility of this platform is demonstrated by developing novel flow architectures including in-line analytics, which exploits three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies.

Geographical indications assumed prominence in terms of juridical development and economic importance with their inclusion in the TRIPS Agreement. Due to their nexus with place of origin, the importance of agricultural GIs has increased manifold. Pakistan has a strong agriculture-based economy. It has many valuable GIs, like Basmati rice, with significant trade worth billions of dollars. Nevertheless, not a single GI has been registered in Pakistan due to factors such as the inadequacies in the present system of protection of GIs in Pakistan, institutional weaknesses and the absence of an active role of the state. This thesis argues that a sui generis law for the regulation of agricultural GIs will facilitate better protection of GIs and economic development in Pakistan provided that it is also accompanied by the necessary institutional reforms. Pakistan is making efforts to enact a separate GI law for better protection of its GIs. However, there are administrative hurdles and institutional incapacities in Pakistan which need to be reformed. Examples have been taken from the sui generis laws of the EU and India in the discussions on legislative and institutional reforms in Pakistan. The EU and Indian sui generis laws have shown better protection of their GIs resulting in the registration of hundreds of their GIs and economic development. The situation in neighbouring India was the same as is currently found in Pakistan until 2003 when it introduced its sui generis law; it has now registered hundreds of GIs. Besides literature reviews, interviews have been conducted with public and private sector stakeholders to gain an insight into the weaknesses and strengths of the system of protection of GIs in Pakistan, as well as potential reforms. Based on the findings, a sui generis law and institutional reforms for better protection of agricultural GIs and economic development in Pakistan are proposed.