The following provide a bar or defense to a claim of trademark dilution: (1) the mark used is a federally registered trademark (only bars claims of dilution brought under state or common law; not those under the federal law); (2) use of a famous mark by another person in comparative advertising to identify the competing goods or services; (3) noncommercial use of a mark; and (4) all forms of news reporting and news commentary. In addition to these defenses, which are all specifically identified in the Dilution Act, many of the same defenses for trademark infringement are also likely to apply. However, since the Federal Trademark Dilution Act is relatively new (1996), it is uncertain how the courts will interpret the applicability of these defenses.
