Source: Reuters

A US Cour of Appeals recently rejected an attempt by boot manufacturer Timberland to protect certain design elements of its famous boots.

The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the US Patent and Trademark Office’s decision that certain elements of the boots, such as the color of the sole, eyelets and stitching were not sufficiently distinctive to identify them as Timberland products (TBL). It’s important to mention that the sign and the name “Timberland” are registered as a trademark.

It should be noted that the cultural value of the iconic boots is undeniable. However, TBL’s application did not include the boot’s unique sole which features the company’s trademarked tree logo and the word mark “Timberland”. TBL also omitted its iconic yellow color from this particular application; although it had tried to register this color before.

In that sense, the court found that the design of the “Timberland” boot filed for this trademark application was merely functional and not distinctive as a whole.

Finally, this decision emphasizes the importance of differentiating between the concept of “functionality” and “distinctiveness”, as well as the implications that this entails in relation to trademark protection.