Passing Off and Misappropriation

This study, undertaken within the framework of an analytical comparison of different national and Common Market laws, stresses the importance of co-ordination between the analysis of competition policy and the regulatory rules that form the basis of the law of unfair competition.

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This study, undertaken within the framework of an analytical comparison of different national and Common Market laws, stresses the importance of co-ordination between the analysis of competition policy and the regulatory rules that form the basis of the law of unfair competition. The author takes two approaches throughout - the development of the competitive process by way of differentiation and imitation by competitors, and distinction between the central notions of passing off and misappropriation. He applies these approaches, respectively, to the areas of competitive advertising, slavish imitation, and the function of the trademark in protection against dilution. This comparative approach allows the reader to grasp the meaning of the combined legal-economic analysis not just on a theoretical level, but permits him to examine the different stages of development as reflected in the form of national laws and common market law.