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Trade-dress Laws Protect Your Business Style, Look & Feel
By Robert Vantress

Companies can protect their overall style, products or packaging or "look and feel" from imitators under trade-dress, a less known but possibly a more powerful way to protect brand equity. If implemented and enforced correctly, trade-dress intellectual property laws can protect your business by providing unlimited protection for attributes that are not covered by copyrights, trademarks or patents including product image and overall appearance, product packaging and business style.

Earlier this year the US Patent Office granted Apple Computer trade-dress for the iPod's unique shape, style and circular touchpad which will prevent competitors from imitating the media player's look and feel. Apple has also applied for trade-dress protection for the physical attributes of the iPhone by claiming that the average consumer associates the shape of the phone with Apple. This was in addition to utility and design pending patents for both products.

Last summer Payless paid a substantial settlement to my client, K-Swiss, to compensate for the profits that Payless realized from selling shoes that copied the Classic brand with the intent to confuse the consumer. The copycats were not exact replicates; however, the differences were subtle enough that people were likely to believe that Payless was a licensed reseller for K-Swiss. Because the corporate identity was closely tied to the Classic look and feel, K-Swiss could not afford to allow anyone to take advantage of its reputation in the marketplace.

Unlike patents and copyrights that cover product designs and functions for a specific period of time, trade-dress protection can last forever. Trademarks protect words, names, symbols that indicate the source of goods or services; however trade-dress covers a combination of design elements such as size, shape, color, texture or graphics.

The purpose of trademarks and trade-dress is to identify the company's products as coming from one source. If an appreciable number of consumers can associate specific attributes with your business or brand, no one else can use the same combination of elements or something that is confusingly similar.

Recent News

Silicon Valley Business Journal
By William-Arthur Haynes
October 2, 2009
Valley Litigator ops for change, employs leaner business model
Highly specialized litigation firm with representation comparable to that of a big firm but at a much lower cost. Read more (PDF)

San Francisco Daily Journal
By Jill Redhage
September 29, 2009
Robert Vantress has left the Silicon Valley Law Group to open a small legal shop aimed at making legal services more affordable for small and mid-sized companies. "I think right now both clients and law firms are looking for alternatives because of the downturn and because of the way law firms are evolving. I think a boutique is one way of going. Things are changing. It's a new world order," said Cathy Gawne, attorney with Hopkins & Carley. Read more

Current Press Releases

New San Jose Law Firm Focused on Complex Litigation Vantress Law Group Provides Trial, Litigation, Dispute Resolution Services San Jose, Calif. - Sept. 28, 2009 - Seasoned trial attorney and litigator Robert M. Vantress announced today the formation of Vantress Law Group, a new San Jose boutique firm that is focused on complex litigation matters including intellectual property, computer and Internet, employment, real estate and other complex or commercial disputes. Read More (PDF)

Contributed Articles

"Don't Forget About Trade-Dress Protection" by Robert M. Vantress, San Francisco Daily Journal & Los Angeles Daily Journal, October 13, 2009. Read article (PDF)

"Life and Death on the Corporate Battlefield: Advice to Management Employees Departing to Form New Companies," by Robert M. Vantress: Bay Area Lawyer, Vol. 2, Issue 2, March 2006.

Case Studies

Trademark and Trade-Dress Infringement: Knock-Off Imitation Shoes
Payless pays K-Swiss $30 million settlement agreement and stops copying "Classic" athletic shoe
(Read case study PDF)