Candidus Dougherty and Greg Lastowka (Rutgers School of Law – Camden and Rutgers School of Law – Camden) have posted Virtual Trademarks (Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In this article, we discuss how trademark law might apply to virtual worlds and virtual economies. In Part I, we consider how trademark infringement in virtual worlds resembles and differs from trademark infringement in other media. In Part II, we look at the various business models of contemporary virtual worlds and how commerce takes place within them. In Part III, we consider the circumstances where trademark infringement may occur in virtual worlds by discussing questions of use, confusion, dilution and fair use. In Part IV, we examine the issue of contributory trademark infringement.