Anuja Elizabeth Jacob, Legal Counselor at Al Jabal Consultancy, Bahrain
ABSTRACT
The Intellectual property system provides for various laws, all of which are in greater interest of the society. Among those laws are Copyright and Trademark, which serves to further the creativity and to prevent the consumer confusion in the market respectively. These functions of both the laws are to be maintained and protected as it is, to balance the equilibrium and to sustain the interests of the objectives of the intellectual property regime. The moment one law intervenes into the subject matter of another, or one law is made to circumvent the laws of another, there occurs a distortion in the above mentioned equilibrium, which would then disrupt the whole system. Such an overlap thus needs to be prevented.
A wide overview on the subject matter of overlap that happens between trademark and copyright is presented in this article. Beginning with the conceptual analysis of IP as a property, the article also analyses the normative foundational value and justification of the trademark and copyright system. The occurrence of overlap is traced and then the major issues that would arise with such overlap are discussed. The article concludes on the note that the overlap between the trademark and copyright can either occur concurrently or sequentially and with the note that it is time for the judiciary or the legislature to act upon this.
