Trademark infringement on the Internet is rampant, and Internet intermediaries play a key role in facilitating infringement online. These intermediaries—which include Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”), hosts that provide digital space or store thirdparty content, and navigation providers—provide essential services to infringers online and may be in the best position to stop infringement. In Internet Intermediaries and Trade Mark Rights, Althaf Marsoof explores the legal and policy underpinnings of Internet intermediary liability for trademark infringement on the Internet. While the focus of the work is English law, the author also includes discussion of related European and international legal principles where appropriate. The author has made a concerted effort to keep the work fresh by including discussion of current legislative and recent case law developments.
The book is also very timely, considering that the role of intermediaries is at the very forefront of recent public debate regarding regulation of online conduct. While it by design does not include every single “trademark infringement and intermediary liability” case, it does provide an in-depth discussion of key representative high-profile cases, in turn making it an essential resource for trademark practitioners and others wanting to know more about trademark rights and its interplay with Internet intermediaries.
This publication is a worthy addition to the library of any firm that (or individual who) handles trademark disputes. The primary strength of the book lies in Dr. Marsoof’s selection of a mix of practitioners and legal scholars from around the world to explore the in-depth historical, practical, theoretical, and scenariobased explanations of the operation of Internet intermediaries that should be useful to anyone practicing in the trademark field. Each chapter focuses on two regimes, generally, albeit not exclusively, from the perspective of English law, a select few jurisdictions of the European Union, or United States law. Since the book focuses primarily on reviewing the state of existing precedents and existing research, rather than developing new research, readers should keep in mind that the book’s main contribution in most places is its collection of existing precedents and comparisons of the similarities and differences of the applicable laws in the United Kingdom (“UK”), United States (“U.S.”) and the European Union (“EU”).
Read the full book review HERE.