Apple Trademarks Apple Store Interior Design (original) (raw)

from the oh-for-the-love-of-god dept

Remember when Conan O'Brien joked around with Samsung about their copying the Apple Store look…only for Samsung to open up a store that looked an awful lot like an Apple Store in Australia. Well, that kind of thing ain't going to fly anymore, folks, now that the USPTO has granted Apple a trademark on the design of their retail stores.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple's request last week for trademarks on the minimalist design and layout of its retail outlets, the office's records show. The description of the trademarks includes “a clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled facade” and, within the store, an “oblong table with stools…set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall.”

Yup, Apple trademarked a retail store with a glass storefront and tables with stools. Truthfully, the trademark is a tad more detailed than that and there is some precedent for this kind of trade dress claim. The article notes the 1992 case in which a Mexican food chain was granted protection for it's interior design. The thing is, all of this revolves around customer confusion, and I'd think that such designs would have to err on the side of the super-specific if it's going to be granted a trade dress mark. Considering the a central part of this mark is for “minimalist design”, i.e. not having stuff, that seems problematic.

“The million dollar question in this instance, as in pretty much all trade dress cases, is just how close a competitor can come to the design without infringing,” [Christopher] Sprigman said.

It's not difficult to envision companies with some flavor of a glass facade, stools and tables, and some large panel displays up in their retail store that have nothing to do with trying to copy Apple's atmosphere. Are those types of retail stores now facing trademark suits?

Filed Under: apple stores, trademark
Companies: apple