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The Intellectual Property StrategistColumns & DepartmentsCopyrightsIntellectual PropertyLitigation

IP News

By Howard Shire and Stephanie Remy
August 01, 2022
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Copyright Standing and Fifth Circuit Trade Dress Factors

In Beatriz Ball, L.L.C. v. Barbagallo Company, L.L.C., No. 21-30029, 2022 WL 2688637, at *1 (5th Cir. July 12, 2022), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded a judgement from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lower court had held that Beatriz Ball lacked standing under the Copyright Act and did not own protectible trade dress.

Background

Beatriz Ball, LLC was assigned registered copyrights protecting four Organic Pearl designs and unregistered trade dress for an Organic Pearl collection for "tableware of hand-crafted and artisanal quality." The defendant began marketing and distributing products similar to the Organic Pearl designs in 2016. Beatriz Ball, LLC sued Pampa Bay for copyright and trade dress infringement. The district court found that the plaintiff did not meet its burden to establish that the unregistered trade dress had acquired secondary meaning. Additionally, the district court held Beatriz Ball, LLC lacked standing to bring the copyright claims because of a lack of legal interest in the cause of action. Beatriz Ball Collection, the original registrant of the copyrights, assigned ownership of the copyrights to the plaintiff Beatriz Ball, LLC a few days before the lawsuit was filed. However, the district court found that the assignment failed to transfer the right to causes of action for prior infringements. Beatriz Ball, LLC appealed and challenged the district court's holding that i) it lacks standing for the copyright claim, and ii) the Organic Pearl trade dress did not acquire secondary meaning.

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