Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:26:21.331Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Information in the Mark and the Marketplace: A Multivocal Account

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2015

Paul Duguid
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Trademark theory implicitly assumes that laws favoring the interests of the producer will inevitably serve the interests of the consumer. Such a claim justifies the way that trademark law privileges the voice of the producer in the marketplace. Historical work has tended to endorse this view, explaining the development of trademarks and trademark law in terms of the information needed for consumers in the modern marketplace. Taking both a historical and “informational” perspective, this essay argues that the producer’s and the consumer’s interests do not so easily align. It speculates that a less varnished history of the mark shows more of a struggle between producers, who seek to have their voice heard without dissent, and consumers, who often want to find alternative yet informed voices to endorse or qualify the information provided by the mark. This alternative view would help explain why, as the paper seeks to show, despite conventional evolutionary narratives, the history of trademarking in the United States is in fact far from linear.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 1 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2013. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I am extremely grateful to the Hagley Museum and Library and to Roger Horowitz for the invitation to present a talk on which this paper is based. I am also grateful to Philip Scranton and David Suisman for very helpful comments on that talk; to Deven Desai, patient with both my prose and my limited legal understanding; and to anonymous reviewers for Enterprise & Society, who with the care and diligence they showed helped to improve not only this paper but, I suspect, also my future reviewing.

References

Bibliography of Works Cited

Books

Agnew, Jean-Christophe. Worlds Apart: The Market and the Theater in Anglo-American Thought, 1550–1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Bakhtin, Michael. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. Holquist, Michael; trans. Emerson, Caryl Holquist, Michael. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Calmels, Edouard. Des Noms et Marques de Fabrique et de Commerce, de la Concurrence Déloyal. Paris: Auguste Durand, 1858.Google Scholar
Cox, Rowland. A Manual of Trade-Mark Cases: Comprising Sebastian’s Digest of Trade-Mark Cases. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1881.Google Scholar
Fisk, Catherine L. Working Knowledge: Employee Innovation and the Rise of Corporate Intellectual Property, 1800–1930. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Fuller, Steve. Social Epistemology. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Guy, Kolleen M.When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of National Identity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007.Google Scholar
Haddock, Adrian Milar, Alan Pritchard, Duncan, eds. Social Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Higgs, Catherine. Chocolate Islands; Cocoa, Slavery, and Colonial Africa. Athens: University of Ohio Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Hopkins, James Love. The Law of Trade-marks, Trade Names, and Unfair Competition. (2nd edition.) Chicago: Callahan, 1905.Google Scholar
Johns, Adrian. Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Ludlow, Henry Jenkins, Henry, A Treatise on the Law of Trade-Marks and Trade Names: Including Foreign Laws Applicable to British Trade-Marks. London: William Maxwell & Sons, 1877.Google Scholar
Maillard de Marafy, L. de. Le Nouveau Régime des Marques de Commerce en Angleterre: Mémoire à S.E. M. le Ministre des Affaires Étrangères. Paris: Imp. Felix Maltese, 1876.Google Scholar
Mariani, Angelo. Coca and its Therapeutic Application. 3d Edition. New York: J.N. Jaros, 1896.Google Scholar
McKendrick, Neil Brewer, John Plumb, J. H. (eds.). The Birth of a Consumer Society. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Porter, Roy. Health For Sale: Quackery in England, 1660–1850. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Pendergrast, Mark. For God, Country & Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company that Makes It. (2d Edition.) New York: Basic, 2000.Google Scholar
Plato, . Early Socratic Dialogues. London: Penguin Books, 1987.Google Scholar
Schechter, Frank I. The Historical Foundations of the Law Relating to Trade-Marks. New York: Columbia University Press, 1925.Google Scholar
Shannon, Claude Weaver, Warren. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1964.Google Scholar
Sherman, Brad Bently, Lionel. The Making of Modern Intellectual Property Law: The British Experience, 1760–1911. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Simpson, James. Creating Wine: The Emergence of a World Industry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Toulmin, Stephen. Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Concepts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton, 1972.Google Scholar
Upton, Francis H. A Treatise on the Law of Trade Marks with a Digest and Review of the English and American Authorities. Albany: Weare C. Little, 1860.Google Scholar
van Dijck, José. The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.Google Scholar
Young, James Harvey. The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America before Federal Regulation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961.Google Scholar
Zelizer, Viviana A. Morals and Markets: The Development of Life Insurance in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.Google Scholar

Articles and Essays

Akerlof, George A. “The Market for Lemons: Quality, Uncertainty, and the Market Mechanism.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 84 (1970): 488–500.Google Scholar
Arrow, Kenneth J. “Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care.” American Economic Review 53, no. 5 (1963): 941–73.Google Scholar
Beebe, Barton. “Semiotic Analysis of Trademark Law.” UCLA Law Review 51 (2004): 621–704.Google Scholar
Bently, Lionel. “From Communication to Thing: Historical Aspects of the Conceptualisation of Trade Marks as Property.” In Trademark Law and Theory: A Handbook of Contemporary Research, edited by Dinwoodie, Graeme B. Janis, Mark D., 3–41. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2008.Google Scholar
Bently, Lionel. “Trade Marks Law and Trade Secrets in the Eighteenth Century: Singleton v. Bolton (1783).” UC Davis Law Review (2013, forthcoming).Google Scholar
Bird, Monroe M. Robinson, James W. “The Effectiveness of the Union Label and ‘Buy Union’ Campaigns.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 25, no. 4 (1972): 512–23.Google Scholar
Carter, Stephen L. “The Trouble with Trademarks.” Yale Law Journal 99, no. 4 (1990): 759–800.Google Scholar
Chon, Margaret. “Marks of Rectitude.” Fordham Law Review 77 (2008): 101–41Google Scholar
Desai, Deven R. “An Information Approach to Trademarks.” Georgetown Law Journal 100, no. 6 (2012): 2116–19.Google Scholar
Desai, Deven R. Spencer, Waller. “Brands, Competition, and the Law.” Brigham Young University Law Review, 5 no. 1 (2010): 1425–500.Google Scholar
Duguid, Paul. “Developing the Brand: The Case of Alcohol, 1800–1880.” Enterprise & Society 4, no. 3 (2003): 405–41.Google Scholar
Duguid, Paul. “Brands in Chains.” In Trademarks, Brands, and Competitiveness, edited by Silva Lopes, T. Duguid, P., 138–64. London: Routledge, 2010.Google Scholar
Duguid, Paul. “A Case of Prejudice?” Business History Review 86 (Summer 2012): 311–33.Google Scholar
Fligstein, Neil Dauter, Luke. “The Sociology of Markets.” Annual Review of Sociology 33 (2007): 105–28.Google Scholar
Gagliano, Joseph A. “The Popularization of Peruvian Coca.” Revista de Historia de América 59 (1965): 164–79.Google Scholar
Higgins, David M. Tweedale, Geoffrey. “Asset or Liability?: Trade Marks in the Sheffield Cutlery and Tool Trades.” Business History 37, no. 3 (2005): 1–27.Google Scholar
Higgins, David M. Verma, S.. “The Business of Protection: Bass & Co. and Trade Mark Defence, c. 1870–1914.” Accounting, Business, and Financial History 19, no. 1 (2009): 1–19.Google Scholar
Horowitz, Roger. “The Real Thing: How Coke Became Kosher.” Chemical Heritage Magazine (Fall 2012). Available at http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/30-3-the-real-thing-how-coke-became-kosher.aspx (accessed July 15, 2013).Google Scholar
Katz, Ariel. “Beyond Search Costs: The Linguistic and Trust Functions of Trademarks.” Brigham Young University Law Review 1 (2010): 1555–608.Google Scholar
Klieger, Robert N. “Trademark Dilution: The Whittling Away of the Rational Basis for Trademark Protection.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review 58 (1997): 789–866.Google Scholar
Kmietowics, Zosia. “Wakefield is Struck Off for the “Serious and Wide-Ranging Findings Against Him.” British Medical Journal (May 24, 2010): 340. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c2803 (accessed July 15, 2013).Google Scholar
Kysar, Douglas. “Preferences for Processes: The Process/Product Distinction and the Regulation of Consumer Choice.” Harvard Law Review 118 (2004): 525–642.Google Scholar
Landes, William M. Posner, Richard A. “Trademark Law: An Economic Perspective.” Journal of Law and Economics 30, no. 2 (1987): 265–309.Google Scholar
Lancaster, Kelvin J. “A New Approach to Consumer Theory.” Journal of Political Economy 74 (1966): 132–57.Google Scholar
Latowska, Greg. “Trademark Function of Authorship.” Boston University Law Review 4 (Oct 2005): 1171–242.Google Scholar
Meillon, J. “The Union Label.” Commonwealth Law Review 3, no. 2 (1905): 70–5.Google Scholar
Nelson, Philip. “Information and Consumer Behavior.” Journal of Political Economy 78, no. 2 (1970): 311–29.Google Scholar
Posner, Richard A. “The Law & Economics of Intellectual Property.” Daedalus 131, no. 2 (2002): 5–12.Google Scholar
Posner, Richard A. “A Theory of Primitive Society.” Journal of Law and Economics 23, no. 1 (1980): 1–53.Google Scholar
Schechter, Frank I. “The Rational Basis of Trade-Mark Protection.” Harvard Law Review 813 (1927): 813–32.Google Scholar
Simon, Carol J. Sullivan, Mary W. “The Measurement and Determinants of Brand Equity: A Financial Approach.” Marketing Science 12, no. 1 (1993): 28–52.Google Scholar
Stanziani, Alessandro. “Information, Quality and Legal Rules: Wine Adulteration in Nineteenth Century France.” Business History 51, no. 2 (2009): 268–91.Google Scholar
Stanziani, Alessandro. “Wine Reputation and Quality Controls: The Origin of the AOCs in Nineteenth Century France.” European Journal of Law & Economics 18 (2004): 149–67.Google Scholar
Stigler, George J. “The Economics of Information.” Journal of Political Economy 69, no. 3 (1961): 213–25.Google Scholar
Wallis, Patrick. “Exotic Drugs and English Medicine: England’s Drug Trade c. 1550-c. 1800.” Social History of Medicine 25, no. 1 (2012): 20–46.Google Scholar
Whooley, Owen. “Organization Formation as Epistemic Practice: The Early Epistemological Function of the American Medical Association.” Qualitative Sociology 33 (2010): 491–511.Google Scholar
Wilkins, Mira. “The Neglected Intangible Asset: The Influence of the Trade Mark on the Rise of the Modern Corporation.” Business History 34 (1992): 66–99.Google Scholar
Wolinsky, Asher. “Competition in Markets for Credence Goods.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 151, no. 1 (1995): 117–31.Google Scholar
Young, James Harvey. “Patent Medicines: An Early Example of Competitive Marketing.” Journal of Economic History 20, no. 4 (1960): 648–56.Google Scholar
Zipf, George. “Brand Names and Related Social Phenomena.” American Journal of Psychology 63, no. 3 (1950): 342–66.Google Scholar

Newspapers and Online Sources

“Leicester Schools Halal Lamb Burger Contained Pork.” BBC News, (May 9, 2003). Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-22466068 (accessed July 15, 2013).Google Scholar
“The Pure Food Congress.” Pacific Rural Press 53, no. 19 (May 8, 1897): 290.Google Scholar
“To Reform the Patent Law.” Chicago Daily Tribune (Oct 7, 1898): 4.Google Scholar
Clifford, Stephanie. “Some Retailers Say More about their Clothing Origins.” (May 8, 2013): A1. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/business/global/fair-trade-movement-extends-to-clothing.html (accessed July 15, 2013).Google Scholar
Knowlton, Brian. “Court Won’t Rule on Corporate Free Speech.” New York Times (June 26, 2003). Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/26/politics/26CND-NIKE.html. (accessed July 15, 2013).Google Scholar
Pollan, Michael. “Vote for the Dinner Party: Is This the Year that the Food Movement Finally Enters Politics?” New York Times (Oct 14, 2012): MM62–MM68.Google Scholar

Archival Sources

Trademark Registrations, California State Archives, Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Museum of Brewing Archive (Coors Visitor Centre), Burton-on-Trent.Google Scholar

Government Publications

Statutes of CaliforniaGoogle Scholar
Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office.Google Scholar
U.S. Industrial Commission, Report of the Industrial Commission on Labor Legislation, vol. 5. Washington DC: 1900.Google Scholar
Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Revise the Statutes Relating to Patents, Trade and Other Marks, and Trade and Commercial Names, Under Act of Congress Approved June 4, 1898. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900.Google Scholar
House of Representatives, “Registration of Trade-Marks Used in Commerce with Foreign Nations,” 58th Congress, Report 3147, 1904.Google Scholar

Case Law

Ex Parte CMAPC. Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, 16 (1879): 958.Google Scholar
Carson v. Ury. 39 Fed Rep 778 (1889)Google Scholar
Tracy v. Banker. 49 NE Reporter 308 (1898).Google Scholar
Ex Parte The Anti-Adulteration League. Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, 86 (11) (1899): 1803–1804.Google Scholar