Trademark law and ROP

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Trademark law and ROP

Trademarks are things that we use as brands. They're words or designs that help consumers know who the source of a product is. While a person can use a name as a trademark, the rights one gets from Right of Publicity Law differ from trademark protection. Imagine a celebrity who is asked to endorse a product. The use of their face or their name to endorse the product is a right of publicity. Their name and their image are not trademarks of the company, they're simply using their name to tell consumers that this is a good product and that they believe in it.

However, when a celebrity uses their actual name on a product, then they're not exploiting their right of publicity, but creating trademark rights that tie their name to a product as a brand. Jessica Simpson is famous and has probably been paid to endorse a variety of products, but she also owns a shoe brand that literally has her name on shoes as the brand for the shoes. Trademark rights are tied to the use of a brand on a good or service. Right of publicity does not need.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/understanding-rights-of-publicity-a-deeper-dive/trademark-law-and-rop