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En artificiell konsument - Hur användningen av smarta röstassistenter påverkar grundläggande varumärkesrättsliga begrepp

Elgh, Jasmine LU (2022) JURM02 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Användningen av smarta röstassistenter (hädanefter röstassistenter), såsom
Siri och Alexa, ändrar vårt sätt att köpa produkter och tjänster online.
Röstassistenter är artificiella intelligenssystem som möjliggör en köpprocess
där konsumenten inte nödvändigtvis exponeras för något varumärke, varken
visuellt eller fonetiskt, innan köpbeslutet fattas. Samtidigt utgår
grundläggande varumärkesrättsliga termer och koncept från en köpprocess
där konsumenten först exponeras för varumärken och därefter fattar beslut
om vilken produkt eller tjänst som ska köpas. I dagsläget är mänsklig
kognition och perception utgångspunkten för varumärkesrättsliga
bedömningar, och därigenom styrande för utfallet i frågorna om huruvida ett
varumärke... (More)
Användningen av smarta röstassistenter (hädanefter röstassistenter), såsom
Siri och Alexa, ändrar vårt sätt att köpa produkter och tjänster online.
Röstassistenter är artificiella intelligenssystem som möjliggör en köpprocess
där konsumenten inte nödvändigtvis exponeras för något varumärke, varken
visuellt eller fonetiskt, innan köpbeslutet fattas. Samtidigt utgår
grundläggande varumärkesrättsliga termer och koncept från en köpprocess
där konsumenten först exponeras för varumärken och därefter fattar beslut
om vilken produkt eller tjänst som ska köpas. I dagsläget är mänsklig
kognition och perception utgångspunkten för varumärkesrättsliga
bedömningar, och därigenom styrande för utfallet i frågorna om huruvida ett
varumärke besitter särskiljningsförmåga och om en genomsnittskonsument
riskerar att förväxla två varumärken med varandra. Fråga uppstår därför hur
den ökade användningen av röstassistenter i köpprocessen påverkar
nuvarande varumärkesrätt.

I denna uppsats analyseras de effekter som användningen av röstassistenter
vid köp online kan komma att få dels för konceptet genomsnittskonsument,
dels för varumärkens särskiljningsförmåga och förväxlingsrisk. En
rättsdogmatisk och EU-rättslig metod används för att möjliggöra denna
analys.

Röstassistenter fungerar i dagsläget främst som hjälpmedel för konsumenten
i köpprocessen och presenterar förslag på produkter. I vissa fall kan även
konsumenten delegera beslutsfattandet till röstassistenten, varigenom den
senare köper produkter eller tjänster autonomt. I båda situationer minskar
konsumentens deltagande i köpprocessen, liksom konsumentens valfrihet. I
uppsatsen konstateras att en åtskillnad måste göras mellan dessa två
situationer. Anledningen till åtskillnaden är att konsumenten varken
exponeras för ett varumärke eller fattar köpbeslutet när röstassistenten
handlar autonomt, medan viss exponering fortfarande föreligger och
konsumenten fattar köpbeslutet när röstassistenten används som hjälpmedel.

Vidare konstateras att röstassistenter kan utgöra mellanled i
varumärkesrättsligt hänseende. Deras uppfattning av ett varumärke ska i
sådana fall beaktas, eftersom de kan ha ett avgörande inflytande på
köpbeslutet. Röstassistenter kan därför ingå i omsättningskretsen, vilket
påverkar genomsnittskonsumentens egenskaper. Att
genomsnittskonsumentens egenskaper påverkas får konsekvenser för såväl
bedömningen av särskiljningsförmåga som förväxlingsrisk. Det konstateras
slutligen att domstolar bör beakta användningen av röstassistenter i den
helhetsbedömning de ska vidta. Det är dock svårt att i det enskilda fallet
fastslå när röstassistenters uppfattning ska beaktas och i vilken grad. (Less)
Abstract
Smart voice assistants (from now on voice assistants) are artificial
intelligence systems that are changing the way consumers purchase products
and services online. Siri and Alexa are two well-known examples of voice
assistants. They enable a purchase process in which the consumer not
necessarily is exposed to a trademark, neither visually nor phonetically,
before the purchase decision is made. In contrast, fundamental concepts
within trademark law originate from a purchase process in which the
consumer is exposed to several trademarks and thereafter decides which
product or service that is to be bought. According to applicable law, human
cognition and perception are therefore crucial of the outcome in questions
regarding... (More)
Smart voice assistants (from now on voice assistants) are artificial
intelligence systems that are changing the way consumers purchase products
and services online. Siri and Alexa are two well-known examples of voice
assistants. They enable a purchase process in which the consumer not
necessarily is exposed to a trademark, neither visually nor phonetically,
before the purchase decision is made. In contrast, fundamental concepts
within trademark law originate from a purchase process in which the
consumer is exposed to several trademarks and thereafter decides which
product or service that is to be bought. According to applicable law, human
cognition and perception are therefore crucial of the outcome in questions
regarding trademarks’ likelihood of confusion and distinctive character. It is therefore of interest to investigate if the use of voice assistants may have an impact on trademark law.

This thesis analyzes the effects that the use of voice assistants may have on
the concepts of the average consumer, as well as trademarks’ distinctive
character and likelihood of confusion. The method of legal-dogmatic
research together with the European legal methodology are used to enable
said analysis.

Voice assistants are mostly used as a tool by the consumer to present
suggestions of products and services when asked to. However, the consumer
may in some cases delegate the decision making to the voice assistant,
whereby the latter purchases the product autonomously. The result of the
thesis shows that it is necessary to treat these two situations differently.
However, both situations result in a decreased consumer participation as
well as a reduction of the consumer’s freedom of choice. The reason for
separating these two situations is mainly that the consumer neither is
exposed to a trademark nor makes the final purchase decision when the
voice assistant acts autonomously, while the consumer is still exposed at
some level to a trademark and makes the final purchase decision when the
voice assistant is used as a tool.

Furthermore, the result shows that voice assistants may be classified as
intermediaries in trademark law, and that their perception may be
considered, since they can have a decisive influence on the purchase
decision. Voice assistants can therefore be included in the relevant public.
This affects the concept of the average consumer, which has several impacts
on the criterion of distinctive character and the assessment of likelihood of
confusion. Finally, the results also show that the courts should consider the
use of voice assistants in their assessment. However, it may be complicated
to establish in which situations and on which markets voice assistants are
used by the consumers and if the voice assistants act autonomously, as well
as to what extent their perception should be considered. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Elgh, Jasmine LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
An artificial consumer - How the use of smart voice assistants affects fundamental concepts within trademark law
course
JURM02 20221
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Immaterialrätt
language
Swedish
id
9080414
date added to LUP
2022-06-14 09:29:59
date last changed
2022-06-14 09:29:59
@misc{9080414,
  abstract     = {{Smart voice assistants (from now on voice assistants) are artificial
intelligence systems that are changing the way consumers purchase products
and services online. Siri and Alexa are two well-known examples of voice
assistants. They enable a purchase process in which the consumer not
necessarily is exposed to a trademark, neither visually nor phonetically,
before the purchase decision is made. In contrast, fundamental concepts
within trademark law originate from a purchase process in which the
consumer is exposed to several trademarks and thereafter decides which
product or service that is to be bought. According to applicable law, human
cognition and perception are therefore crucial of the outcome in questions
regarding trademarks’ likelihood of confusion and distinctive character. It is therefore of interest to investigate if the use of voice assistants may have an impact on trademark law.

This thesis analyzes the effects that the use of voice assistants may have on
the concepts of the average consumer, as well as trademarks’ distinctive
character and likelihood of confusion. The method of legal-dogmatic
research together with the European legal methodology are used to enable
said analysis.

Voice assistants are mostly used as a tool by the consumer to present
suggestions of products and services when asked to. However, the consumer
may in some cases delegate the decision making to the voice assistant,
whereby the latter purchases the product autonomously. The result of the
thesis shows that it is necessary to treat these two situations differently.
However, both situations result in a decreased consumer participation as
well as a reduction of the consumer’s freedom of choice. The reason for
separating these two situations is mainly that the consumer neither is
exposed to a trademark nor makes the final purchase decision when the
voice assistant acts autonomously, while the consumer is still exposed at
some level to a trademark and makes the final purchase decision when the
voice assistant is used as a tool.

Furthermore, the result shows that voice assistants may be classified as
intermediaries in trademark law, and that their perception may be
considered, since they can have a decisive influence on the purchase
decision. Voice assistants can therefore be included in the relevant public.
This affects the concept of the average consumer, which has several impacts
on the criterion of distinctive character and the assessment of likelihood of
confusion. Finally, the results also show that the courts should consider the
use of voice assistants in their assessment. However, it may be complicated
to establish in which situations and on which markets voice assistants are
used by the consumers and if the voice assistants act autonomously, as well
as to what extent their perception should be considered.}},
  author       = {{Elgh, Jasmine}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{En artificiell konsument - Hur användningen av smarta röstassistenter påverkar grundläggande varumärkesrättsliga begrepp}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}