Protection for Electronic Interfaces and Websites
June 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts
Although the exact parameters of protection are still uncertain, courts are beginning to allow trade dress protection for the overall “look and feel” of a website.
In Blue Nile, Inc. v. Ice.com, Inc., the plaintiff sued the defendant for copying the overall “look and feel” of plaintiff’s retail jewelry websites, including the design of plaintiff’s search pages.
Although the court ordered more factual development before it could rule definitively on the issue, the court did hold that it was possible for the look and feel of the websites to have trade dress protection if the plaintiff’s copyright claims did not already cover those parts.
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