Sunday, August 12, 2012

TTAB Affirms PTO Refusal to Register Patented Design


Trademark protection is forever, so it is important to police its boundaries.  Patenting a design increases one's chance of "acquiring distinctiveness" and therefore recognition in the market: your design's look signals the source to buyers.  But patents expire, and the purpose of utility patent law is to increase the public domain (that's why terms are limited).  And trademark law is intended to inform consumers and protect compeitive freedom.  So we don't want to let people do an end around the term limits and the pro-competitive purpose by registering their designs - which protects them so long as they continue to market it.  the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board discusses these issues lucidly in In Re Adams Mfg.  John L. Welch at TTABlog discusses the issues.--The TTABlog®: TTAB Affirms Functionality Refusal of Plastic Suction Cup Configuration:

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