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President Signs Changes To Trademark Dilution Law

Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.12.06

President Bush signs the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (“Act”), amending the Lanham Act in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc ., 537 U.S. 418 (2003), which held that a dilution plaintiff must show actual dilution of its mark.

The Act lowers the standard set out in Moseley and provides that a plaintiff only needs to show a likelihood of dilution to sustain a claim. It specifically provides for relief from both dilution by blurring and dilution by tarnishment.

The new law also addresses a conflict among the Circuit Courts regarding whether a mark can be famous among a defined segment of the population, known as “niche market fame.” “Niche market” fame in a limited market appears to be disqualified by the Act's language that “a mark is famous if it is widely recognized by the general consuming public of the United States as a designation of source of the goods or services of the mark's owner.”

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Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.10.25

Creativity You Can Use: CJEU Clarifies Copyright for Applied Art

On 4 December 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) issued a landmark judgment in the joined cases C-580/23 (Mio v. Asplund) and C-795/23 (USM v. Konektra) concerning copyright protection for “works of applied art” (i.e., utilitarian objects such as tables, furniture, lighting fixtures, sofas, chairs, kitchen appliances, vases, and fashion items)....