Costco Space Heater Supplier’s Win Upheld in Trade Dress Appeal

A company that sells space heaters defeated a competitor’s trade dress rip-off claim—despite Costco Wholesale Corp. having asked it to copy the design, the Eighth Circuit affirmed.

National Presto Industries Inc. failed to show design elements in its HeatDish parabolic electric heaters qualified as protectable trade dress, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found. The court also rejected Presto’s claim that a jury should have heard its trade dress case against rival Greenmade, saying seeking profits is an equitable remedy that does not entitle it to a jury trial, unlike seeking actual damages.

The precedential opinion by ...