The past year has been an active one in the chocolate trademark wars, as confectionery giants attempt to use trademark law to protect the shapes of iconic candy products. In the US, and in many other jurisdictions, companies can protect product shapes or configurations, but only if they are sufficiently distinctive that the design functions as an indicator of source. Chocolatiers have had varying degrees of success in convincing trademark offices and courts that their confections have attained that status. … More
Tag Archives: product configuration
Watch: Protecting Product Configurations, Packaging, and Designs
What In-House Counsel Needs to Know
Product configuration and packaging play an integral part in consumer choice and can often set a particular product apart from its competition on the store shelf. Because companies heavily invest in creating unique product designs and packaging that encourage brand association, business owners should also consider protecting those investments as intellectual property.
Peter Sullivan, Natasha Reed and Jenevieve Maerker presented a webinar offering guidance for in-house counsel regarding the different types of intellectual property that may protect product configurations and packaging in the United States,… More