Protect Your Products And Their Unique Qualities
Trade dress refers to a product’s image and includes any element that makes it distinct. Examples include a product’s packaging, wrapping, labeling or graphics. A product or company’s trade dress often plays a critical role in its branding and overall image. Trade dress also results in rapid product recognition for consumers.
At the Newport Beach law offices of Flyer & Flyer, A Professional Law Corporation, we have been protecting businesses and individuals throughout California for more than 40 years. Our Orange County trade secret protection and dispute attorney, David R. Flyer, is an experienced litigator as well as a licensed patent lawyer. Whether you require guidance with trade dress protection or are involved in a trade dress dispute, you can turn to our law firm with confidence.
Trade Dress Protection
Trade dress can be federally registered and therefore protected when it is distinctive. The shape of the old Coca-Cola bottle is considered distinctive – it is easily identifiable by consumers. Trade dress cannot be federally registered and therefore cannot be protected when it is functional. A button on a machine, for example, would be considered functional. As an experienced Newport Beach trade dress protection attorney, David R. Flyer can identify the categorization of your product’s image and assist you in obtaining federal registration through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Trade Dress Disputes
Our law firm handles trade dress disputes that arise regarding the appearance of a product’s packaging, a company’s branding or other elements. We provide plaintiff and defense counsel, striving to resolve disputes in accordance with the best interests of our clients.
The owner of a trade dress can sue a person or entity for intellectual property infringement for violating Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, the law that regulates trade dress and trademarks. Section 43(a) essentially states that a person or company that “uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact which is likely to cause confusion or to cause mistake or to deceive…shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he or she is likely to be damaged by such an act.”
Contact Us For A Consultation With An Orange County Trade Secret Dispute Lawyer
For assistance protecting a trade dress or resolving a dispute involving IP infringement, schedule a consultation with attorney David R. Flyer. Our Newport Beach law offices offer easy access from the I-405 and the 55 and 73 freeways. We are open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Contact us online or call 949-227-2465.