Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
want to start a business; it's a new idea for a niche market, so to prevent me revealing too much, I've come up with an analogy that I think will covertly illustrate my product.
Let's say:
My business is customized bottle caps. They are the same shape and size and color schema of snapple bottle caps, and they can be used on any array of similar beverages or just used as decorating materials. The design on the bottle cap is similar only in color (let's say red lettering on white background, glossy) but makes no reference to snapple. An avid snapple drinker might think it looks familiar.
We will use original art drawings/images that we design and put these on the bottle caps. This is the main draw - a unique and cohesive art style. These bottle caps will be called "topz," which we will register, and sell individually on our topz website. We will advertise them as decorations for anything from bottles to walls to jewelry.
Should we be worried about snapple filing suit??
2 Answers from Attorneys
Yes. It's fairly common for suits to be brought over designs, items, etc. that mimic or suggest the look and feel of famous trademarked products, whether or not the words appearing in the trademark are reproduced or not. There was, for example, a big lawsuit between Gallo and Kendall-Jackson over a leaf motif on a wine label that one claimed resembled the other's well-known trademark too closely. The plaintiff lost, but at great cost to the defendant in defense legal costs, expert witnesses, and uncertainty about the future of their label. Such suits are less frequent when the products are different - for example, you're selling bottle tops, not soft drinks - but the concern and vulnerability are still there. I'm not saying the other company - whether it be Snapple or whoever - is likely to sue, but is a 30% chance worth the risk? Or even 5%?
For the most part I agree with Mr. Whipple. However, it's hard to say for sure in your situation since the facts and circumstances in your analogy aren't really the facts and circumstances. I would highly recommend consulting with an attorney to determine the risks and how you might minimize or eliminate them.
Please let me know if you need any more help.
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