United States
This is an Insight article, written by a selected partner as part of WTR's co-published content. Read more on Insight
In the United States, a product design may be eligible for protection under trade dress (a type of trademark) and design patents. Unlike more traditional trademarks, trade dress (which includes both product configurations and product packaging) is generally not protectable or registrable immediately on adoption. Rather, to qualify for protection in the United States, a product configuration must be shown not only to be capable of acting as a source identifier, but also to have actually acquired secondary meaning in the marketplace (ie, to have become recognised by consumers as a source identifier). Conversely, to be eligible for a design patent, the design of an article of manufacture must be new, original and ornamental.
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