Nestle’s Tidy Cat Trade Dress Claims Against PetSmart Survive

Nestle‘s claims that PetSmart ripped off the packaging of its Tidy Cat cat litter to sell its own brand survived a motion to dismiss in the Eastern District of Missouri.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri rejected PetSmart’s argument that it didn’t use the packaging in commerce because it uploaded the trade dress to its website accidentally. The packaging was still used to sell the litter regardless, the court said.

Nestle said PetSmart’s cat litter mimics the packaging of Tidy Cat by including “silhouettes of multiple cats,” the same four color codes corresponding to the ...