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Emory International Law Review

Authors

Mindy Pava

Abstract

The analysis of the U.S.-Cuba trademark disputes can provide guidance for the future in weighing how a country should balance its international politics with its obligations under intellectual property law. This Comment argues that countries set a dangerous precedent when they rely on temporary political considerations to block well-known foreign trademarks or interfere with internationally agreed-upon intellectual property rights. This Comment searches for a feasible solution that would prevent a country from violating international intellectual property treaties by registering its own version of a well-known foreign mark'thus leading to consumer confusion about the source and origin of the mark'simply because a political relationship has deteriorated between the country of registration and the country of the foreign mark's origin. Because avoidance of consumer confusion is the ultimate purpose of trademark law, this Comment advocates for an international, centralized registration system for well-known foreign trademarks.

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