Abusive Trademark Litigation and the Incredible Shrinking Confusion Doctrine - Trademark Abuse in the Context of Entertainment Media and Cyberspace‪.‬

The recent legal challenge to the extension of the copyright term was grounded in the notion that Congress was giving away benefits to intellectual property ("IP") owners, typically large corporate entities, without any corresponding public benefit that underlies the constitutional authority for IP grants. (1) The giant conglomerates of the copyright industry--such as Time Warner, Disney, and Viacom-ultimately won that battle before the U.S. Supreme Court. (2) Yet, in another case, the Court limited the rights of big corporations with famous trademarks to attack smaller companies under the theory of trademark dilution by requiring a showing of actual economic harm rather than a mere likelihood of dilution. (3) Courts have generally taken a more conservative view toward the expansion of IP rights and trademark rights in particular, (4) whereas Congress has recently enacted federal trademark dilution protection, (5) federalized the law of trade secrets, (6) outlawed cybersquatting, (7) increased damages for copyright infringement, (8) and extended the term of copyright protection. (9) Such expansion by Congress arguably reflects the political muscle of big businesses, including companies in the high-tech sector and the entertainment industry, and their ability to influence the legislative process. (10)