Economic Perspective of Trademarks

This paper aims to analyze trademarks from an economic perspective. Through this paper, the author seeks to discuss and analyze the conventional economic theories on trademarks by eminent economists and economic scholars, who previously categorized trademarks as private goods, in contrast to other intellectual properties like copyrights and patents which were categorized as public goods. The paper goes on to discuss the various uses of a trademark, some of which fall under the ambit of public non-rival uses and others which can be considered under the conventional proprietary uses. Thereafter, the author emphasizes upon the modern public goods theory on trademarks, which keeping the above uses of the trademark in mind, categorize it as an impure public good. Lastly, the author also discusses why the categorization of trademarks as impure public goods, alongside public goods like copyrights and patents, is correct as all three of them share common features when it comes to the ultimate goal, which is to act as an information source for the consumers. The paper is divided into three parts, wherein the first part provides an introduction to the topic and the motivation behind its selection, the second part deals with the literature review, and lastly, the third part deals with the discussion and conclusion of the paper.