Supreme Court makes protection of product design trade dress more difficult

In March 2000, a unanimous US Supreme Court ruled in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Samara Brothers Inc. that product design trade dress that is not registered as a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office is not subject to protection under US law, unless it can be established that the design had acquired distinctiveness. According to the Court, product design trade dress can never be inherently distinctive.