Reforming Anti-Dilution Protection in the Globalization of Luxury Brands

Abstract

The luxury industry plays an important role in many contemporary western and eastern societies. This Article discusses the rapid global expansion of the luxury industry and the role of anti-dilution laws in protecting luxury brands. It reveals that luxury companies face two major challenges in securing adequate anti-dilution protection while they market their products or services globally. At the international level, the major intellectual property treaties afford no minimum standards for anti-dilution protection of well-known trademarks. At the domestic level, divergences in anti-dilution protection in the world’s three main luxury markets, the European Union, the United States, and China, have rendered it more difficult for luxury companies to prevent and stop the potential dilutions of their brands. Based on the analysis of these two challenges, the Article offers thoughts about how policymakers should improve anti-dilution protection for luxury brands while meeting their duties to adequately protect the public interest.