The recently enacted Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 recali-
brated the degree of fame necessary to garner protection: the TDRA applies
only to a mark “widely recognized by the general consuming public of the Unit-
ed States as a designation of source of the goods or services of the mark’s own-
er.” By privileging those major players who succeed in turning their brands into
household names, the TDRA strengthens incentives for mark-owners to ensure
their logos and brand names are well-recognized not only among adult consum-
ers, but also among children. This Article examines a set of marketing beha-
viors aimed at children that the TDRA’s revised fame standard both reflects and
rewards. Deeming fewer marks famous may serve the immediate purpose of
creating a higher bar for plaintiffs to successfully bring dilution claims, but that
bar should be set at age twenty-one to avoid rewarding firms for making loyal
consumers out of teenagers, tweens, kids and even infants.

When Christina and Patrick Vitagliano dreamed up their Monster Mini Golf franchises — 18-hole, indoor putting greens straddled by glow-in-the-dark statues of ghouls and gargoyles — they never imagined that a California maker of high-end audio cables would object.
But Monster Cable Products Inc., which holds more than 70 trademarks on the word monster, challenged the Vitaglianos’ trademark applications. It filed a federal lawsuit against their company in California and demanded the Rhode Island couple surrender the name and pay at least $80,000 for the right to use it.

If you thought, from the headline, that this was about Monster, the employment listings company, it isn’t.