Tonia Murphy’s paper, “The Name Game: Merging the Business and Law of Trademarks,” co-authored with Dan Cahoy (Penn State University), has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Legal Studies Education (forthcoming in Vol. 38, Issue 1, in the spring of 2021). Here is the abstract:

 Choosing a good name for a product, service, or entire firm is one of the most important decisions managers make.  To appreciate the full strategic picture, students must consider marketing notions of branding but also trademark law.  This paper reviews the relevant marketing and legal literature.  It provides a suite of hands-on exercises simulating tasks students may face in the business world, culminating in the “name game,” which requires students to balance marketing and legal considerations to choose desirable brand names for an actual product.