Samara Brothers Case Study

Wal-Mart Stores v. Samara Brothers is a U.S. Supreme Court case which focuses on trademark infringement. It questions whether an unregistered product’s design is protected by law. Section 43(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act), provides a provision which protects unregistered marks against confusion and such. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). While the statute does not require “distinctiveness” of the mark to be shown, case law universally does. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc., 529 U.S. 205, 205 (2000). Section 43(a) also gives a cause of action, which holds anyone liable for infringing upon a protected mark. To that end, this case examines the circumstances which deem an unregistered product’s design “distinctive” for trademark infringement purposes, rendering it protectable and ultimately actionable. Id at 207. In the Walmart case, the large retailer contracted with a manufacturer to reproduce clothing designs by Samara Brothers, which Walmart resold at a lesser price. While there were minor modifications in the reproduced clothing line, Samara Brothers brought suit alleging “copyright infringement…consumer …show more content…
The variance between the two trade dress classifications, as set forth in the Two Pesos case, is that product packaging is usually inherent where product design is not. Id at 215. The primary function of product packaging is to identify the product’s source; consumers are inclined to make that connection, making a distinction unnecessary. Id at 212. However, consumers are less likely to associate a product’s design or functionality with its source. Id at 213. For this reason, classifying ambiguous trade dress as product design, which requires distinctiveness, serves to protect consumers and new entrants because, as a whole, product design provides more usefulness than source identification. Id at