Apple gets trademark on store design

Apple has been granted a trademark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to protect the “design and layout” of its stores.

Apple filed the trademark application in May of 2010, and after two rejections was granted the mark on January 22.

The trademark covers the storefront, described as a “panelled facade, consisting of large, rectangular horizontal panels”.

Inside the store, the mark covers details including “rectangular recessed lighting units” along the ceiling and “rectangular tables arranged in a line in the middle of the store parallel to the walls”.

Julia Anne Matheson, partner at Finnegan in Washington, said that trademark applications for store designs and layouts are not typical, and that the process can be long and costly.

She added that as trademark protection “essentially allows for monopoly-style protection and therefore has anti-competitive implications, it is important … that the trade dress for which protection is sought is defined with sufficient particularity.”

Apple’s first trademark application was rejected, as the USPTO deemed it not “inherently distinctive”.

To demonstrate that the features of its stores are recognisable by the public, Apple then submitted the results of a customer survey, consisting of 180 interviews conducted at malls that do not have an Apple retail store.

Customers were shown photographs of Apple storefronts with logos and other identifying marks removed.

The survey showed that 43 percent of respondents identified the stores in the photographs as Apple Stores.

The USPTO again refused the application, saying the accompanying drawings did not show the entire applied-for mark.

However, after a change of attorney and another submission of material, including many photographs of storefronts, the USPTO granted the trademark.

Matheson continues: “Because this type of trade dress is a non-traditional type of mark comprised of a three-dimensional configuration, the party claiming exclusive rights is required to take the extra step of demonstrating that consumers do, in fact, recognize the combination of features as a source identifier – or … that the trade dress has acquired ‘secondary meaning.’”

She added that it is possible that Apple applied for the trademark in response to Microsoft’s mid-2009 announcement that it would open its own stores.