PIJIP Professor and Faculty Director Christine Haight Farley will present her article “Rationalizing Trademarks in a Digital World” at the upcoming Annual Workshop of the International Society for the History and Theory of Intellectual Property (ISHTIP) at Gothenburg University on June 20. The full program is available here, and Prof. Farley's abstract is below.

Abstract

The sole rationale for trademark protection today is that trademarks transmit useful information to consumers enabling an efficient marketplace. The marketplace, however, is in the midst of a fundamental change. Increasingly retail is virtual, marketing is data-driven, and purchasing decisions are automated by AI. Predictive analytics is changing how consumers shop. The theory no longer accurately describes the role of trademarks in the marketplace. Consumers now have numerous digital alternatives to trademarks that provide them with more accurate information more efficiently. Just as store shelves are disappearing from consumers’ retail experience, so are trademarks disappearing from their product search. Consumers may want to buy a brand as the good itself, but they no longer need the assistance of a trademark to find the good they seek.