Trade Dress Lawyers
Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Riverside County – Glendale, Irvine, and Riverside Office
At Grant’s Law Firm, we advise and represent individuals and companies interested in protecting the trade dress of their product. Trade dress refers to characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers. But, a trade dress must not be functional.
Like trademarks, a product’s trade dress is legally protected by the Lanham Act, the federal statute which regulates trademarks and trade dress. Trade dress protection is intended to protect consumers from packaging or appearance of products that are designed to imitate other products; to prevent a consumer from buying one product under the belief that it is another. For example, the color, shape, design, and arrangement of the materials of a children’s line of clothing can be protectable trade dress (though, the design of the dress itself is not protected), as can the design of a magazine cover, the appearance and décor of a chain of restaurants, and a method of displaying items such as wine bottles in a wine shop. In fact, courts are beginning to allow trade dress protection for the overall “look and feel” of a website.
Trademarks and trade dress are used to protect consumers from confusion as to the source of a manufactured object. To get trademark and trade dress protection, the owner must show that the mark is not likely to be confused with other trademarks or trade dresses for items in the same general class. The trademarks and trade dress can last indefinitely as long as they are used in commerce.
Your trademark and trade dress are some of your business’s most valuable assets. We counsel you on how to protect them from infringement by competitors. If you have not adopted a trade dress or trademark, we can help you determine how to design a potential mark that is unique through a trademark search, contact us today for an initial consultation. Call (888) 937-7555 to speak with a Trade Dress attorney at one of our Southern California offices.