The Journal of Things We Like (Lots) (JOTWELL) recently recognized an article written by two FSU Law professors and an alumna as one of the best works of recent scholarship relating to intellectual property law. For their paper, Trademark Tarnishmyths, Loula Fuller and Dan Myers Professor Jake Linford, Charles W. Ehrhardt Professor of Litigation Justin Sevier, and FSU Law alumna Allyson Willis (’21) conducted two experiments on trademarks to determine if tarnishment on a seller’s reputation occurs when affiliated with disreputable topics. Based on the results of the experiments, the authors suggest that the case for tarnishment might be weak in circumstances where courts have been most willing to presume tarnishment occurs. Further, they argue that much of what courts have presumed about the tarnishing effect of sex-, drug-, and sacrilege-related uses may be more mythic than material. The JOTWELL review of Trademark Tarnishmyths concluded that the article is “a very valuable addition to the trademark dilution literature.”

Published on March 10, 2023