Alexandra Jane Roberts
Professor of Law and Media
Education
Dartmouth College, AB 2002
Stanford University, AM 2003
Yale Law School, JD 2008
Stanford University, AM 2003
Yale Law School, JD 2008
Bio
Professor Roberts holds a joint appointment with the School of Law and the Department of Music within the College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD) at Northeastern University. She is a leading authority on intellectual property and social media. Her research focuses on federal trademark and false advertising law, particularly in cyberspace. She has written on influencer marketing; trademark use on social media; hashtags as trademarks; and trademark law’s failure to function doctrine. She also writes on law and literature.
Professor Roberts joined Northeastern in 2022 from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law (UNH Law). She previously served as executive director of the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property. She also served as a visiting assistant professor at Boston University School of Law and as an associate with Ropes & Gray.
She holds a JD from the Yale Law School, an AM from Stanford University and an AB from Dartmouth College.
Fields of Expertise
- Advertising Law
- Contracts
- Entertainment Law
- Intellectual Property
- Law and Literature
- Trademarks
Selected Works
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- ”Getting a Handle on Handles,” 66 Communications of the ACM 28 (January 2023)
- “A Poetics of Trademark Law,” Berkeley Technology Law Review (forthcoming, 2023).
- “Mark Talk,” 39 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 1001 (2021), symposium issue “Diamond Anniversary: 75 years of the Lanham Act” (with transcript of symposium remarks).
- “False Influencing,” 109 Georgetown Law Review 81 (2020).
- “Trademark Failure to Function,” 103 Iowa Law Review 1977 (2019),
- “Tagmarks,” 105 California Law Review 599 (2017).
- “How to Do Things with Word Marks: A Speech-Act Theory of Distinctiveness,” 65 Alabama Law Review 1035 (2014).
- “Goodwill U: School Name Change & Trademark Law,” 4 IP Theory 129 (2013).
- “Constructing a Canon of Law-Related Poetry,” David Kader and Michael Stanford eds., Poetry of the Law: From Chaucer to the Present, ” 90 Texas Law Review 1507 (2012).
- “On Narcissism,” 2 Journal of Law: Periodical Laboratory of Legal Scholarship 501 (2012)
- “What’s in a Domain Name? Nominative Fair Use Online in Toyota v. Tabari,” 100 Trademark Reporter 1290 (Nov/Dec. 2010) (co-author).
- “New-School Trademark Dilution: Famous Among the Juvenile Consuming Public,” 49 IDEA 579 (2009), reprinted in 100 Trademark Reporter 1021 (May/June 2010).
- “Everything New Is Old Again: Brain Fingerprinting & Analogical Reasoning,” 9 Yale Journal of Law & Technology 234 (2007).
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- “Oppressive & Empowering #Tagmarks,” in Feminist Cyberlaw (forthcoming).
- “Athlete Trademarks: Names, Nicknames, & Catchphrases,” in The Oxford Handbook of American Sports Law (Oxford University Press, 2018).
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- “Under Armour Scores Trademark Win Against Women’s Wear Brand,” Sportico (January 18, 2023).
- “How Far Can British Street Artist Banksy Take His Anonymity?,” News@Northeastern (December 2, 2022).
- “Twitter Blue Checks Raise Trademark Risk After Fake Lilly Fiasco,” Bloomberg Law (November 22, 2022).
- “Experts Advise Students to Be Cautious on Twitter,” VOA News (November 19, 2022).
- “Athletes Likely Off the Hook In FTX Mess, But No Guarantee,” Law360 (November 17, 2022).
- “Would Twitter Get Online Publisher Immunity in Fake 'Blue Check' Suits?” Reuters (November 14, 2022).
- “Professor Alexandra Roberts Named Senior Fellow—Trademarks at GMU’s CIP2,” Northeastern Law News Announcement (November 12, 2022).
- “Revisiting the Bounds, Effectiveness of the Morals Clause Amid the Yeezy Fallout,” The Fashion Law (November 3, 2022).
- “Bethenny Frankel Sends TikTok Creator Meredith Lynch a Cease and Desist, Sparking Debate,” Daily Dot (October 13, 2022).
- “TikToker Says Her Video Was Used in Refy Beauty Ad Without Her Permission, Sparking Debate,” Daily Dot (October 7, 2022).
- “After Kim Kardashian’s Sec Settlement, Influencers Working With Brands Could Face More Scrutiny – And Fines,” Digiday (October 4, 2022).
- “Luka Doncic Embroiled in Unusual Trademark Dispute With His Mother,” Sportico (September 13, 2022).
- “Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ Trademark Loss More Detour Than Roadblock,” Bloomberg Law (August 30, 2022).
- “Is That Shirt a Gucci . . . or a Cuggl?,” Fast Company (August 24, 2022).
- “What’s in a Name? If the Name Is Meta, a Lawsuit,” Protocol (August 3, 2022).
- “As Makeup Co., Molly Sims Settle Lawsuit, Uncertainty Over Influencer Liability Remains,” The Fashion Law (August 2, 2022).
- “Why Marc Jacobs and Ohio State Both Fought to Trademark the Word ‘The’,” Fast Company (June 24, 2022).
- “New Guidance Will Boost ‘Generic’ Trademark Denials, Lawyers Say,” Bloomberg Law (June 24, 2022).
- “What Is Luxury Without the Logos?,” The New York Times (June 8, 2022).
- “Sports Teams Love Crypto. What Happens When Their Sponsor Strikes Out,” The Washington Post (May 20, 2022).
- “Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Logo,” Fast Company (May 6, 2022).
- “Inside the Evolution of BuzzFeed’s Creators Program,” Digiday (May 4, 2022).
- “Vulgar Patagonia Replica Can Draw on ‘Chewy Vuiton’ Parody Win,” Bloomberg Law (April 22, 2022).
- Podcast: “Slate Money Does a Deep Dive into the World of Trademarks,” IP Lasagna (February 19, 2022).
- “Trademarks And The City: Peloton Gets Big Branding Lesson,” Law360 (December 14, 2021).
- “Cleveland Guardians Sue Cleveland Guardians for Right to Team Name,” Sportico (October 27, 2021).
- “Influencer Molly Sims Must Face Trademark Claim Over Endorsement,” Media Post (August 10, 2021).
- “What Washington Can Learn From 'Cleveland Guardians' Nickname Goof,” Sports Illustrated (August 4, 2021).
- Podcast: “A Case of Two Guardians,” The Legal Impact (October 30, 2021).
- “As 'Emoji' TM Cases Surge, One Defendant Calls It 'Trolling',” Law360 (September 10, 2021).
Alexandra Jane Roberts
Professor of Law and Media