Like the elephant in the famous parable, trade mark dilution isn’t easily determined, writes Mark Engelman
- Discusses in detail judgments from the UK, EU and US on matters relating to trade mark dilution, examining the different approaches in jurisdictions.
- Explains that the protection enjoyed by trade marks with reputation should be based on evidence that represents the state of the market as a whole, rather than evidence of occasional and individual instances of consumer behaviour.
There is a well-known Indian parable about the blind men and the elephant. When a group of blind men heard that a strange animal called an elephant had been brought into town, they came to see it because none of them were aware of its shape or form. One said: ‘We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable.’ The first landed upon the trunk and said: ‘This being is like a thick snake.’ Another man’s hand reached its ear and said it seemed like a kind of fan. The third, whose hand was upon its leg, said: ‘It
