We are delighted to announce the first online event in the CREATe Trade Mark Seminar Series, Summer 2024, focusing on Trade Mark History.
SEMINAR 1: TRADE MARK HISTORY
Time and place: Thursday 23rd May 2024, 2pm to 3pm, UK time, online.
Speaker: Prof. Michael Birnhack, Tel Aviv University.
Chair: Dr Elena Cooper, CREATe, University of Glasgow.
Title: Historical Trade Mark Data and the Reconstruction of Mandate Palestine’s Trade Mark Register (1917-48).
Abstract: Historical trade mark data offers a rich yet underexplored resource for historians of many fields, such as law, economics, business, culture, and design. Trade mark data offer a fresh lens to observe the law in operation, track economic changes, search for indicators of innovation and competition, and identify subtle cultural trends. The main obstacle is the absence of readily available historical data. Alongside the benefits of studying historical trade mark data, this talk will discusses its downsides: Firstly, trade marks are a voluntary legal tool rather than an obligation, and secondly, in traditional economies and certain markets, commercial activity transpires under the trade mark radar. Hence, the registries do not reflect the entire commercial scene.
To illustrate the potential and the caveats of researching historical trade mark data, I discuss the reconstruction of the trade mark registry of Mandate Palestine, from its debut in 1922 until the end of the Mandate in 1948. The reconstructed registry is open to all for academic research, and is available here.
Biography: Michael Birnhack is a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University. He teaches, studies, and writes about intellectual property and its history. His 2012 book on Colonial Copyright was published with OUP. He now works on trade mark history. Michael was Associate Dean for Research, he founded and directed the S. Horowitz Institute for IP. In 2020 he won the Zeltner prize for excellence in research.
As previously announced, the CREATe Trade Mark Seminar Series comprises two on-line talks about trade mark law each term: one on trade mark history (convened by Dr Elena Cooper), and one on innovative methodologies in trade mark research (convened by Dr Xiaoren Wang). The Series was launched in Summer 2022. It is open to scholars (including research students) of any discipline worldwide.
Zoom links for the seminars will be emailed a few days before the events to all on the CREATe Trade Mark Seminar Series mailing list. There is no need to RSVP. To join the mailing list, please contact Elena Cooper: elena.cooper@glasgow.ac.uk
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