Opinion ID: 6499526
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Beatriz Ball and the Organic Pearl Collection

Text: Beatriz Ball as it currently exists is the result of the ingenuity of a woman who, as a child, fled penniless with her family from communism in Cuba to Mexico with hope for a better life. In Mexico, Ms. Ball befriended a family that owned a successful business creating silver designs out of a new cheaper alloy. The process and concept intrigued her, and she remained close to the family, learned the trade, and observed the growth of their business over the years. Ms. Ball later married and moved to New Orleans, where she started her own small business buying alternative metal pieces from small foundries and selling them at home shows and bazaars. When her endeavors met with 1 Judge Haynes concurs in the judgment only. 2 Ms. Ball is not a party to this suit. 2 Case: 21-30029 Document: 00516391348 Page: 3 Date Filed: 07/12/2022 No. 21-30029 success, she decided that she wanted to control production of her products, so she built her own factory and hired artisans. She began designing her own pieces, and she developed a unique alloy combination with particular elements that enhanced the shine so that it looked “as much [like] silver as possible.” This new control enabled her to expand from direct consumer sales to business-to-business sales because she could guarantee the quality and quantity of production. Today, Beatriz Ball has grown into a very successful company. It presently has 13 active collections with products made from a variety of materials, with metalware remaining the bulk of its sales. At issue in the present dispute is the company’s Organic Pearl collection, which has been on the market since 2005. It remains one of the company’s most popular collections. A main feature of this collection is its pearl border, consisting of handcrafted pearls varying in size and shape, intending to appear unpredictable and distorted. In addition to the “organic shape and . . . freeformed pearl,” the collection also incorporates a more reflective design. The disuniformity in both the pearl border and in the overall shape is one of the defining characteristics of the Organic Pearl collection. Each piece is individually produced by hand in Mexico using an ancient sand-mold casting method that requires a rare set of skills. Beatriz Ball has registered copyrights protecting four of its Organic Pearl designs. It also claims that its Organic Pearl line embodies a distinct trade dress, which is protectible under the Lanham Act. Beatriz Ball identifies its trade dress in the “Organic Pearl” collection as follows: [Beatriz Ball] owns trademark rights to the “look and feel”—
collection . . . . The Organic Pearl trademark applies to tableware of hand-crafted and artisanal quality, such that each item in the collection will have individual variation because 3 Case: 21-30029 Document: 00516391348 Page: 4 Date Filed: 07/12/2022 No. 21-30029 each is poured and polished by hand with each piece having undulating shape ornamented with rims of individually-formed clay bead, each intentionally having a slightly irregular shape and size accentuating their hand-made artisanal quality. Importantly, Organic Pearl is not a registered trade dress.