[E-trademarks] looking for a trade dress case citation

[Pamela Chestek]

I would look into the Honeywell thermostat cases. IIRC, Honeywell was 
originally denied registration for its round thermostats because they 
were fuctional, but later obtained registration because as the result of 
a change in technology the shape was no longer dictated by the function.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
300 Fayetteville Street
Unit 2492
Raleigh, NC 27602
pamela at chesteklegal.com
(919) 800-8033
www.chesteklegal.com

On 7/2/2024 12:05 PM, Carl Oppedahl via E-trademarks wrote:
>
> A listserv member asks to post anonymously ...
>
> ---
>
> Looking for any case(s) (TTAB, District Court or Appellate Court) that 
> held, in a trade dress case either that:
>         1) an element that replicates a conventional functional 
> element of an item is/per se/deemed functional and/or cannot be 
> source-identifying;
>                     OR
>         2) an element that only merely replicates aconventional 
> functional element of an item istherefore not functional and/or canbe 
> source-identifying.
>
>     For example, consider a computer PC keyboard that is itself 
> functional EXCEPT that what would be the F1 through F12 keys at the 
> top are actually permanent, molded, non-working, non-moveable 
> replicas.  Can those fake F1 through F12 keys serve as the 
> non-functional source-identifying trade dress aspect or is that 
> precluded because they are a mere replica of functional items that 
> look like, and are placed, where one would expect the functional items 
> to be (and, hence, can't be source identifying)?
>
>
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