Reelex Loses Bid to Secure Box Design Marks at Federal Circuit

A Patent and Trademark Office rejection of two box design marks for New York-based Reelex Packaging Solutions Inc. will stand, a federal appeals court ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision finding Reelex’s box designs for electric cables on wires too useful to be protected as trade dress.

“Because we find no legal error in the Board’s functionality analysis, and because substantial evidence supports the Board’s findings that Reelex’s box designs are functional, we affirm the Board’s final decision refusing registration,” a panel of Federal Circuit judges ...