Copying bottle design

S

Sharon Bowman

Sharon Bowman
Today I was in a store with a friend who was looking for Sauternes for his father-in-law (i.e. a store I don't usually wind up in). I looked at a display they had, and was startled to see this rank knock-off of Selosse Ros.

Same silver capsule in thick foil; same frosted glass bottle; even JB Ros instead of Jacques Selosse.

But, oh my friends, only 26 per.

faux.jpg
And the, uh, version originale...

Image_1-1.png
 
Well that's one way to keep the demand for Selosse down, misdirect the clueless to a presumably inferior product. Maybe you should take one for the team and try the JB rose.
 
I think Trader Joe has been carrying a sparkling ros in a similar package for a number of years, maybe longer than Selosse has used it. Do you think that was the source of Selosse's inspiration? Does it matter?
 
Speaking of trade dress, an interesting old case here.

Though I do confess that I'd hoped to prod Chris into the light to examine the question of just what kind of trade dress he has on.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Speaking of trade dress, an interesting old case here.

Though I do confess that I'd hoped to prod Chris into the light to examine the question of just what kind of trade dress he has on.
Click to expand...

I've participated in my fair share of trade dress actions.

This case and Fiji vs. Viti point out that the heaviest burden of proof on the plaintiff is to demonstrate confusion among reasonable consumers. Frankly, this is much easier in practice than courts usually allow. Still, there doesn't seem to be much possibility for confusion in these trade dresses, does there?

I wouldn't recommend he sue in the US. Maybe in France? They're schizo on trade dress. If it were a non-French product with that design, all sorts of red flags might go up. But everyone here knows that many French wine products use the same typography to indicate type or region.

Not long ago the courts in our crumbling democracy dealt a blow to our ability to parody brands in any commercial way: Coca-Cola v. Gemini Rising. Apparently, average people might think that an "Enjoy Cocaine" t-shirt in the CC script was actually made by Coca-Cola as to endorse the use of an illegal drug.

Me, I'm wearing my t-shirt as I reach for the Jack Selles Frampagne!

Happy New Year, Coad!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top