Opinion ID: 6499526
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Volume of Sales

Text: Because the district court perceived that Beatriz Ball only introduced evidence of total company sales and no evidence of “sales attributable to the 7 The district court determined that the “direct consumer testimony” factor should be counted against Beatriz Ball, and we agree. Beatriz Ball did not offer direct consumer testimony at trial and cannot be entitled to a favorable finding on this factor. But the court erred in considering testimony (offered by corporate salespeople, not consumers) indicating consumer confusion. Consumer confusion delves into the likelihood of confusion element of trade dress infringement and is not relevant for purposes of secondary meaning. Amazing Spaces, 608 F.3d at 235–236. See id. at 249 (noting that instances of consumer confusion bear on the merits of trade dress claims, but “do not have relevance as to the secondary meaning” of the trade dress). At trial, Beatriz Ball provided testimony of consumer association from its sales representatives, but this is not direct consumer testimony. Second-hand observations of consumers may sometimes be relevant to this inquiry, but they are by definition not direct consumer testimony and are insufficient on their own. This is especially true here, where the only testimony provided is from interested parties who work with or for the plaintiff. Thus, even though the district court improperly analyzed this factor, the error is harmless in the absence of actual consumer testimony. 11 Case: 21-30029 Document: 00516391348 Page: 12 Date Filed: 07/12/2022 No. 21-30029 Organic Pearl collection,” it determined that the “volume of sales” factor counted against finding secondary meaning. It reasoned that it could not evaluate the success of the trade dress in the market without knowing the volume of sales specific to the Organic Pearl collection. This would have been an acceptable inference but for the fact that Beatriz Ball offered evidence of the exact volume of sales attributable to the Organic Pearl collection. The most precise version of this evidence is a chart that lists the sales from the Organic Pearl collection for each year from 2009 to 2019. According to this chart, Beatriz Ball sold $6.6 million worth of Organic Pearl pieces in total. The district court declared that the chart was unhelpful since it only “purported to show the total sales of Plaintiff’s products from 2009 through September 2019” rather than sales attributable to the Organic Pearl collection. The court misunderstood that the chart does represent sales attributable to the Organic Pearl collection. Admittedly, the chart is not clearly labeled and, perhaps in isolation, such a mischaracterization would not be clear error. But the chart was not the sole evidence of Organic Pearl sales. For example, one of Beatriz Ball’s general managers testified that sales from the Organic Pearl collection from the last 10 years totaled just over $6.6 million. The same $6.6 million total was also attributed to the Organic Pearl collection in sworn declarations during the summary judgment briefing. Thus, the volume of Organic Pearl sales was solidified in this record. Accordingly, whether this multimillion-dollar volume of sales ultimately weighs for or against secondary meaning should be reconsidered. No current circuit precedent expressly addresses a $6.6 million volume, but two cases uphold much higher volumes and one rejects a much lower volume as indicia of secondary meaning. See Bd. of Supervisors for Louisiana State Univ. Agric. & Mech. Coll. v. Smack Apparel Co., 550 F.3d 465, 477 (5th Cir. 12 Case: 21-30029 Document: 00516391348 Page: 13 Date Filed: 07/12/2022 No. 21-30029 2008) (counting $93 million per year in favor of secondary meaning); Viacom, 891 F.3d at 191 (counting $470 million from two films featuring the trade dress in favor of secondary meaning); Nola Spice Designs, 783 F.3d at 544 (counting $30,500 over 6.5 years against secondary meaning). On remand, the district court must decide whether this sales volume over ten years in the handmade, heirloom-quality tableware market favors finding secondary meaning.