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BD Stumbles on the Fine Functionality Line between Patents and Trademarks
| May 2, 2012
In Re Becton, Dickinson and Company
April 12, 2012
Panel: Bryson, Clevenger, and Linn. Opinion by Clevenger. Dissent by Linn.
Summary
BD appealed a decision of the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that a requested trademark registration for a design of a closure cap for blood collection tubes could 
not be trademarked because the design is functional. The CAFC affirmed the TTAB ruling relying heavily on prior BD utility patents and advertisements as evidencing functionality. Attempting to convert functional aspects into a trademark due to acquired secondary meaning will not hold. A company looking to protect a product across multiple forms of intellectual property needs to clearly identify, from the advent of seeking protection, which aspects are considered functional and which are for design purposes. The designation of function and design should be maintained in all ways the product is protected and promoted.
Category: Case Summary, Design Patents, Trademark
Tags: design > design patents > Trademark > utility patent
Tags: design > design patents > Trademark > utility patent
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