Trademark and WHO: A Legal Battle for Human Health

Abstract

Tobacco use remained the basic and leading cause of deaths of approximately 5.4 million people in the world per year and it is expected to increase more than 8 million people by 2030 if the tobacco consumption remains constant. WHO/FCTC is a very recent initiative by WHO which aims to reduce tobacco use by giving awareness to general public about the harmful effects of the tobacco use on health and environment and its terrible impacts on economy.

The aims and objectives of plain packaging are to reduce tobacco use and to save world from the devastating effects of tobacco use. It has been proved that plain packaging is an effective, inexpensive and powerful tool to dispel the effect of advertisements and show the ultimate truth about its use. The health warnings in shape of images call upon the emotional response and lead the tobacco consumer to reduce or quit the tobacco use. All activities on tobacco packages which promote tobacco use by any mean, whether they are trademarks, logos, colour scheme or graphics are banned.

The clash between the plain packaging and the trademark is that, the plain packaging distressed two main functions of trademark and hinders the right of the tobacco industry to use their trademark and take due benefit thereof. At the first hand, the plain packaging may jeopardize the function of a trademark to indicate its trade origin. Now on the one hand is welfare of the people and on the other hand sanctity of trademark law which ensure the welfare of the traders. Which principle of law would bifurcate their interest in just and fare manners?