Law & Technology: Amazon’s Quiet Overhaul of the Trademark System

Session 5: Amazon’s Quiet Overhaul of the Trademark System
Jeanne Fromer (NYU)

Room 134
Thursday, March 21, 2024
10:00 – 11:50 a.m. (PT)
Organized by Proj. Tejas Narechania & Prof. Colleen Chien

Abstract
Amazon’s Quiet Overhaul of the Trademark System

Amazon’s impact raises profound questions for trademark law, and for law more generally. There have been powerful players before, and other situations in which private dispute resolution procedures have affected parties’ behavior. But Amazon’s effect on the legal system is unprecedented in scale and scope. What does (and should) it mean that one private party can so significantly affect a legal system? Do we want the trademark system to have to continually adapt to Amazon’s rules? If not, how can the law disable Amazon from having such a profound impact? In this regard, we explore the ways in which Amazon’s practices might both help and hurt competition, be harmful to the trademark system, and reshape how we think about trademark law.

Colloquium. Description

In the context of technology, how can the law promote abundance, efficiency, and access while also advancing values like fairness, safety, and privacy? What institutional arrangements and governance structures best support the consistent and equitable application of the law? And what empirical and legal theoretical insights can be leveraged to explain or improve the development and operation of technology law and policy? In this colloquium, we will explore these and related questions through the lens of seven projects, whose subject matter will draw from intellectual property, telecommunications, and related bodies of technology law.

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