Legal Definitions - Trade Dress

Trade Dress refers to the distinctive overall visual appearance and feel of a product or its packaging. It encompasses elements like shape, size, color, texture, and graphics, which, when combined, create a unique impression that helps consumers identify the source of the product, much like a brand name or logo.

This protection extends not only to the packaging but also to the design and configuration of the product itself. The law protects trade dress when its unique look consistently signals to consumers that the product comes from a particular company, preventing competitors from using a confusingly similar appearance to mislead customers.

• Example 1: Distinctive Packaging

  Imagine a popular brand of gourmet coffee sold in a uniquely shaped, brightly colored pouch with a specific matte finish and a particular arrangement of graphics. This brand consistently uses this exact combination of elements across all its coffee varieties.

  This unique combination of the pouch's shape, color palette, texture, and graphic layout constitutes the coffee's trade dress. Consumers who regularly purchase this brand recognize these visual cues instantly, even without closely reading the brand name, and associate them with the quality and origin of that specific coffee. If a competitor were to use a nearly identical pouch design, it could confuse consumers into thinking they were buying the original brand, which would be a violation of trade dress protection.

• Example 2: Product Configuration

  Consider a well-known brand of high-end blenders that features a distinctive, angular motor base, a specific pitcher shape with a unique lid design, and a particular arrangement of control buttons, all presented in a signature metallic finish.

  The overall aesthetic and functional design elements of this blender – its particular shape, the way its parts fit together, and its characteristic appearance – form its trade dress. These design choices are not merely functional; they have become synonymous with that specific brand in the minds of consumers. If another company produced a blender with an almost identical visual configuration, it could mislead buyers into believing it was the original brand, thereby infringing on the established trade dress.