Opinion ID: 492734
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Copying and Secondary Meaning

Text: 27 The court instructed the jury that it could consider a finding that Doc's had copied Fuddruckers' trade dress on the issue whether the dress had acquired secondary meaning. 9 Fuddruckers claims that the instruction did not go far enough. We disagree. 28 Our cases recognize that evidence of deliberate copying is relevant to a determination of secondary meaning. E.g., Transgo, 768 F.2d at 1015-16; cf. Audio Fidelity, Inc. v. High Fidelity Recordings, 283 F.2d 551, 557-58 (9th Cir.1960) (applying California law). Indeed, in appropriate circumstances, deliberate copying may suffice to support an inference of secondary meaning. See Transgo, 768 F.2d at 1016 (dictum). The trial court's instruction permitted, but did not require, the jury to infer the existence of secondary meaning from a finding of intentional copying. Fuddruckers would have us go further, and hold that evidence of deliberate copying shifts the burden of proof on the issue of secondary meaning. We decline to so hold. Competitors may intentionally copy product features for a variety of reasons. They may, for example, choose to copy wholly functional features that they perceive as lacking any secondary meaning because of those features' intrinsic economic benefits. See Fabrica, 697 F.2d at 894; Sicilia, 732 F.2d at 428.