trade dress: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

Trade dress is a category of trademark law. While a trademark is often a word, phrase, or logo, trade dress protects the total image and overall appearance of a product or its packaging.

Yes, a specific colour or colour combination can be protected as part of a product's trade dress if it has acquired 'secondary meaning' (consumers associate it with a specific source) and is not functional. For example, the Tiffany blue box is protected.

The owner must typically prove that their trade dress is distinctive (either inherently or through acquired distinctiveness), that the defendant's trade dress is confusingly similar to consumers, and that this similarity is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace.

A design patent protects the ornamental design of a functional item for a limited time (e.g., 15 years). Trade dress protection, if established, can last indefinitely as long as it remains in use and distinctive, but it requires proof of consumer recognition and non-functionality.

The distinctive visual appearance and overall image of a product or its packaging that identifies the product's source to consumers and distinguishes it from competitors.

Trade dress is usually formal, technical, legal in register.

Trade dress: in British English it is pronounced /ˈtreɪd ˌdres/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈtreɪd ˌdres/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.