Trademark case: Weems Industries, Inc. v. Teknor Apex Co., USA

The court upheld findings that color served a safety function and that case qualified as exceptional under the Lanham Act.

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment canceling Weems Industries' registered trademark for the chartreuse color used on its water hoses, concluding that the color is a functional product feature that cannot be protected as a trademark. The appeals court also upheld an award of more than $3 million in attorney fees to competitor Teknor Apex, agreeing that the litigation qualified as an exceptional case under the Lanham Act. Because the court affirmed on functionality grounds, it did not reach the district court's separate finding that the color lacked acquired distinctiveness (Weems Industries, Inc. v. Teknor Apex Co., No. 24-3608 (8th Cir. Jul. 30, 2026)).

Case date: 31 July 2026
Case number: No. 24-3608
Court: United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

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