About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

22 Ne. J. Legal Stud. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/neastjol22 and id is 1 raw text is: 1/Vol. 22/North East Journal of Legal Studies TRADE DRESS PROTECTION AND THE CONFUSION WITH DESIGN PATENTS PART ONE: TRADE DRESS PROTECTION by Roy J. Girasa* Richard J. Kraus** INTRODUCTION A company's sign or symbol certainly constitutes an important business asset. The public recognizes the McDonald's Arch, the Mercedes emblem, the unique K on Kellogg's products, and innumerable other signs or symbols. These trademarks convince many to purchase the products offered. Marketers also understand that the packaging and design of a product significantly influence a buyer to select a particular item. One need only examine the beautiful designs of perfume bottles or the blue Tiffany box packaging1 to visualize the time and effort expended to influence the purchase of such products. The law protects the packaging and design of products, but the nature and extent of such protection have led to some confusion among practitioners and scholars. A company may need to decide whether to seek protection in the form of common law trade dress under trademark law or attempt to obtain a design patent. These alternative modes offer *Professor of Law, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, New York. **Professor of Law and Chairperson of Department of Legal Studies and Taxation, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, New York.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most