Appeals Court Focuses on Fees in Garden Hose Color Mark Argument

A $3.2 million attorneys’ fees award drew more attention from an Eighth Circuit panel during oral argument Tuesday than the cancelation of a trademark registration for chartreuse garden hoses.

Both Teknor Apex Co., which defeated a trade dress infringement claim and won the fees, and Weems Industries Inc. presented their cases on the merits and the fees largely uninterrupted during arguments at the US Court of Appeals at the Eighth Circuit. The three-judge panel spent some time probing a lower court’s finding that the case was exceptional from the start largely based on Weems hiding ads touting the functionality of ...