Empirical Research Aiming to Harmonize Linguistic Recognition and Practical Examination Standards in Trademark Law: A Fusion of Linguistics and Legal Studies
- Project Leader
- HOTTA Syugo (Meiji University)
- Project Period
- April 2025 -
Summary
This research endeavors to pioneer "Trademark Linguistics," a groundbreaking framework that addresses trademark challenges through a synergistic collaboration of linguists, legal scholars, and practitioners. Traditional evaluations of similarity, dilution, genericization, and depletion in trademark law have often been marred by subjective judgments, undermining consistency and fairness. By uniting insights from morphology, semantics, phonology, syntax, pragmatics, corpus linguistics, etc., this study seeks to develop rigorous, objective methods for analyzing linguistic phenomena inherent to trademarks. Leveraging empirical experiments, including reaction time analysis and event-related potentials, it also explores the cognitive processes underpinning trademark recognition. This multidisciplinary approach aspires to revolutionize the fairness and predictability of legal decisions, delivering robust guidelines for practitioners and transforming the landscape of trademark examination and litigation. Ultimately, t The research also aspires to improve trademark law and support the establishment of international standards through expert opinions and recommendations.
