Trademark case: Bodum USA Incorporated v. A Top New Casting Inc., USA

Sufficient evidence at trial supported finding that trade dress of iconic French press coffeemaker was nonfunctional; verdict against rival upheld.

Bodum USA, Inc. (Bodum), which produces and sells what is recognized as an iconically designed houseware product, the Chambord French press coffeemaker, met its burden of proving at trial that the elements of the claimed Chambord trade dress were nonfunctional. Further, competitor A Top New Casting, Inc. (A Top) was not entitled to a new trial on the ground that the district court improperly excluded several utility patents from evidence, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Bodum USA Incorporated v. A Top New Casting Inc., June 12, 2019, Flaum, J.).

Case date: 12 June 2019

Case number: No. 18-3020

Court: United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.