E-grāmata: Hashtags and Trade Marks: A Comparative Legal Approach

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the issues of the digital age from a trade mark law perspective, but also for those who want to engage with the importance of fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, in trade mark law. The book offers not only a discussion of legal issues in the context of hashtags and trade marks, but also an examination of the increasingly important requirement of a fair balance between conflicting interests and rights in trade mark law against the background of a topical issue in the digital world. -- Victoria Thüsing, IPKat blog With a focus on US and German law, Aslanis analysis of the legal protection of hashtags highlights persistent problems of doctrinal incoherence and inconsistency in two very different trade mark regimes. While providing scholarly rigor and depth, Hashtags and Trade Marks: A Comparative Legal Approach also offers practical solutions and a taxonomy of hashtag categories that will assist lawyers, judges, and administrative authorities dealing with real-world questions of registration and scope of protection for these unconventional marks. The implications of this multifaceted study could reach beyond the example of hashtags alone; as the opportunities afforded by digital technology exercise their profound influence on human relations in every sphere, the principles outlined in this book may well be applied to as-yet unimagined modes of future communication. -- Barbara Lauriat, Texas Tech University, US This is a must read for anyone who has an interest in hashtags and trademark law. A very timely, first-of-its kind publication, this insightful work covers three crucial jurisdictions, the US, the EU and Germany to unpack the underlying fundamental issues of freedom of expression, competition and trade mark protection in the current information space. -- Frederick Mostert, Kings College London, UKc