Over the last decades, the domain of trademark law and the scope of trademark protection have grown exponentially, and a wide variety of nontraditional marks, including color, sound, smell, and shape marks, can now be registered in many jurisdictions. However, this continuous extension of trademark protection has led to debate and controversies about the impact of non-traditional marks on fundamental rights, such as freedom of competition and freedom of expression, and also on the intellectual property (IP) system as a whole.

These tensions have led to an increasing number of administrative and judicial decisions across several jurisdictions that address the validity of these marks.

Irene Calboli has analyzed in depth and with an interdisciplinary approach the questions raised by the acceptance of nontraditional trademarks. Based in Singapore, she is Professor of Law at Texas A&M University School of Law, Fort Worth, Texas, USA; fellow at the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum, a joint international initiative of Stanford Law School and the University of Vienna School of Law; a visiting professor at several academic institutions worldwide, and author of articles and books in the area of IP law, including the book The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks, Critical Perspectives, written with Martin Senftleben in 2018.

Related Resources

To go further:
About Irene Calboli

Also of Interest:
The Trademark Reporter (May-June 2019)—Acquired Distinctiveness in the European Union: When Nontraditional Marks Meet at (Fragmented) Single Market

INTA Bulletin—Committee Spotlight: Non-Traditional Marks Committee