How can trademark laws protect IPR in the US?
• This is a popular vehicle of protection in works where copyright has expired; • There have recently been three important test cases brought to the US Federal Appeals Court under the Lanham Act, where parties were sued for the unauthorised use of a person’s name and/or likeness. The Lanham Act deals with non-registered trademarks and in particular, their false designation of origin. There cases were: • Tiger Woods case; • Babe Ruth case; • Rosa Parks v. a record company. • The judgements were based upon the context of the use and how far rights existing in the use of someone’s image or in the use of their name without their authorisation.
