Trademarks and the Lexicographer in the Digital Age

Trademarks in English dictionaries have been treated inconsistently and inadequately since the introduction of legislation for the protection of trademarks in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, publishers showed increasing deference to the wishes and occasional demands of trademark owners, often to the detriment of dictionary users. The digital revolution of the twenty-first century has resulted in an ever-decreasing role for the place of dictionaries in providing dependable information about trademark status to dictionary users.