McCarthy on Dilution

J. Thomas McCarthy, Dilution of a Trademark, European and United States Law Compared, The Trademark Reporter, International Trademark Association.

This article is a comparison of the laws that govern dilution in Europe and the United States.... While the anti-dilution provisions of Articles 4(4)(a) and 5(2) of the E.U. Directive are “optional,” in fact, every pre-2004 E.U. nation has adopted them in its domestic law. In the United States, since the enactment of the 1996 federal anti-dilution Act, in theory there is a uniform law consistent throughout the nation. The European Directive achieves simplicity by harmonizing statutory dilution law among the European nations. But in the United States, the International Trademark Association (INTA) has opposed the federal preemption of diverse state anti-dilution laws. In the United States there is a confused mélange of some 35 state anti-dilution laws with the federal law superimposed on top.