An IP Conundrum: Can Patent Policy and Trade Dress Law Be Reconciled?

Authors

• Michael Scott Fuller, Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law

Abstract

Patent protection in the United States has traditionally been a compromise between the competing interests of Congress and the inventor. While Congress seeks disclosure of technology in order to benefit the common good, inventors want protection of their proprietary inventions, otherwise known as their "intellectual property." Patent law provides a bargained-for exchange, giving the invention protection for a finite period of 20 years from the date of application. Upon expiration of this congressionally sanctioned monopoly, the invention passes ipso facto into the public domain.

In the past, this mutually beneficial arrangement was the accepted means by which both Congress and the inventor achieved their respective goals. Certain technologies, however, can blur the theoretical line between patent and trade dress. The Supreme Court recently issued an opinion addressing this point in a case concerning a unique patented spring configuration. Specifically, the Court faced the seemingly straightforward issue of whether an expired utility patent could be extended ad infinitum by virtue of tacking trade dress protection to the same subject matter.

Recommended Citation

Michael Scott Fuller, An IP Conundrum: Can Patent Policy and Trade Dress Law Be Reconciled?, 6 Computer L. Rev. & Tech. J. 303 (2002)