Cutting Out the Middleman: Why "Look and Feel" Should Be Ignored in Trade Dress Law

Authors

Nicholas DiMarino

Document Type

Note

Abstract

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note discusses the background and elements of general trade dress law. Part II discusses the narrower issue of "look and feel" in the context of websites and outlines how courts have currently addressed the "look and feel" issue. Part III proposes that courts ignore the artificial "look and feel" distinction and instead apply normal trade dress analyses and elements. This solution, which requires that courts adhere to a workable standard that serves the underlying purpose of trade dress law, allows recognition of the distinctive characteristics of website trade dress claims, while reducing the risk of "overprotection" by keeping vague and generic terms, like "look and feel," out of the calculation.