Opinion ID: 211373
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trade Dress and Product Design

Text: 11 On appeal, Slokevage argues that the Board erred in determining that the trade dress 2 for which she seeks protection is product design and thus that it cannot be inherently distinctive. She asserts that the Board's reliance on the Supreme Court's decision in Wal-Mart to support its position that Slokevage's trade dress is product design is misplaced. In particular, she contends that Wal-Mart does not provide guidance on how to determine whether trade dress is product design. Moreover, she maintains that the trade dress at issue in Wal-Mart, which was classified as product design without explanation, is different from Slokevage's trade dress because the Wal-Mart trade dress implicated the overall appearance of the product and was a theme made up of many unique elements. Slokevage argues that her trade dress, in contrast, involves one component of a product design, which can be used with a variety of types of clothing. Slokevage further asserts that her trade dress is located on the rear hips of garments, which is a location that consumers frequently recognize as identifying the source of the garment. 12 The PTO responds that the Board correctly concluded that Slokevage's trade dress is product design and that it properly relied on Wal-Mart for support of its determination. According to the PTO, in the Wal-Mart decision the Supreme Court determined that a design of clothing is product design. The PTO further asserts that the trade dress at issue in Wal-Mart, which was classified as product design, is similar to Slokevage's trade dress. The trade dress in Wal-Mart consists of design elements on a line of garments, and Slokevage's trade dress similarly consists of a design component common to the overall design of a variety of garments. The PTO notes that Slokevage's trade dress application refers to her trade dress as a configuration including a clothing feature, and that product configuration is synonymous with product design. The PTO also argues that under Wal-Mart product design cannot be inherently distinctive, the rationale being that consumers perceive product design as making the product more useful or desirable, rather than indicating source. According to the PTO, the trade dress at issue here makes the product more desirable to consumers, rather than indicates source. Finally, the PTO notes that even if it were a close case as to whether Slokevage's trade dress constitutes product design, the Court's opinion in Wal-Mart states that in close cases, trade dress should be categorized as product design, thereby requiring proof of acquired distinctiveness for protection. 529 U.S. at 215, 120 S.Ct. 1339. 13 We agree with the Board that Slokevage's trade dress constitutes product design and therefore cannot be inherently distinctive. The Lanham Act provides protection not only for words and symbols, but also for trade dress, a category of trademarks that has been described as involving the total image of a product, including features such as size, shape, color or color combinations, texture, graphics, or even particular sales techniques. Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc., 505 U.S. 763, 764 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 2753, 120 L.Ed.2d 615 (1992). The Supreme Court has recently observed that trade dress is a category that originally included only the packaging of a product, but has been expanded by courts to encompass the design of a product. Wal-Mart, 529 U.S. at 209, 120 S.Ct. 1339. In order for an applicant to gain protection for trade dress, the trade dress must be distinctive, either inherently or by acquiring distinctiveness. Two-Pesos, 505 U.S. at 769, 112 S.Ct. 2753. Trade dress is inherently distinctive when its intrinsic nature serves to identify a particular source of a product, and, in contrast, acquires distinctiveness when the public comes to associate the product with its source. Id. at 768-769, 112 S.Ct. 2753. The Supreme Court has determined that certain types of trade dress, in particular, product design and color, can never be inherently distinctive. See Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Prods. Co., 514 U.S. 159, 162, 115 S.Ct. 1300, 131 L.Ed.2d 248 (1995) (color can never be inherently distinctive); Wal-Mart, 529 U.S. at 212, 120 S.Ct. 1339 (product design is not inherently distinctive). 14 Directly relevant to our discussion of product design is the Court's discussion in Wal-Mart. That case addressed whether product design could ever be inherently distinctive and answered the question in the negative. The trade dress in Wal-Mart involved children's clothing decorated with hearts, flowers, fruits, and the like. 529 U.S. at 207, 120 S.Ct. 1339. The Court labeled that trade dress product design and ultimately concluded that product design is entitled to protection only if it has acquired distinctiveness. Id. at 216, 120 S.Ct. 1339. The Court reasoned that in the case of product design ... we think consumer predisposition to equate the feature with the source does not exist and stated that even the most unusual of product designs — such as a cocktail shaker shaped like a penguin — is intended not to identify the source, but to render the product itself more useful or more appealing. Id. at 213, 120 S.Ct. 1339. Thus, the Court established a bright-line rule — product design cannot be inherently distinctive, and always requires proof of acquired distinctiveness to be protected. The Court did not recite the factors that distinguish between product packaging and product design trade dress, but stated that in close cases courts should classify the trade dress as product design. Id. at 215, 120 S.Ct. 1339. 15 Both parties agree that if we determine that the trade dress at issue is product design, then it cannot be inherently distinctive under the decision in Wal-Mart. The issue pertinent to this appeal, however, is whether Slokevage's proposed trade dress is product design. Although the decision in Wal-Mart does not expressly address the issue of what constitutes product design, it is informative to this case because it provides examples of trade dress that are product design. The Court observed that a cocktail shaker shaped like a penguin is product design and that the trade dress at issue in that case, a line of spring/summer one-piece seersucker outfits decorated with appliques of hearts, flowers, fruits, and the like is product design. Wal-Mart, 529 U.S. at 207, 213, 120 S.Ct. 1339. These examples demonstrate that product design can consist of design features incorporated into a product. Slokevage urges that her trade dress is not product design because it does not alter the entire product but is more akin to a label being placed on a garment. We do not agree. The holes and flaps portion are part of the design of the clothing — the cut-out area is not merely a design placed on top of a garment, but is a design incorporated into the garment itself. Moreover, while Slokevage urges that product design trade dress must implicate the entire product, we do not find support for that proposition. Just as the product design in Wal-Mart consisted of certain design features featured on clothing, Slokevage's trade dress similarly consists of design features, holes and flaps, featured in clothing, revealing the similarity between the two types of design. 16 In addition, the reasoning behind the Supreme Court's determination that product design cannot be inherently distinctive is also instructive to our case. The Court reasoned that, unlike a trademark whose predominant function remains source identification, product design often serves other functions, such as rendering the product itself more useful or more appealing. Wal-Mart, 529 U.S. at 212, 213, 120 S.Ct. 1339. The design at issue here can serve such utilitarian and aesthetic functions. For example, consumers may purchase Slokevage's clothing for the utilitarian purpose of wearing a garment or because they find the appearance of the garment particularly desirable. Consistent with the Supreme Court's analysis in Wal-Mart, in such cases when the purchase implicates a utilitarian or aesthetic purpose, rather than a source-identifying function, it is appropriate to require proof of acquired distinctiveness. 17 Finally, the Court in Wal-Mart provided guidance on how to address trade dress cases that may be difficult to classify: To the extent that there are close cases, we believe that courts should err on the side of caution and classify ambiguous trade dress as product design, thereby requiring secondary meaning. 529 U.S. at 215, 120 S.Ct. 1339. Even if this were a close case, therefore, we must follow that precedent and classify the trade dress as product design. We thus agree with the Board that Slokevage's trade dress is product design and therefore that she must prove acquired distinctiveness in order for her trade dress mark to be registered.