4 ms·
I don't think there's any problem with third-parties putting together support forums, Q&A pages or the like. It's when they snatch the look-and-feel of a compa
by tom_rath 18y ago
I don't think there's any problem with third-parties putting together support forums, Q&A pages or the like. It's when they snatch the look-and-feel of a company's site to try and pass themselves off as an official part of that company (without permission!) which sends my alarm bells ringing.
- oldwesley 18y agoYep, look-and-feel is protected as part of a company's intellectual property. As it should be.
- RWilson 18y agoYou're technically right. For reference, look and feel fall under "trade dress" [http://www.ivanhoffman.com/tradedress.html http://www.ivanhoffman.com/tradedress.html]. In brief, the relevant case law is: "To recover for trade dress infringement ... a plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) that its trade dress has obtained “secondary meaning” in the marketplace; (2) that the trade dress of the two competing products is confusingly similar; and (3) that the appropriated features of the trade dress are primarily nonfunctional." Continuing ... "Strength of ... trade dress depends upon the interplay of two elements, the uniqueness of the trade dress and the investment in imbuing a trade dress with secondary meaning." ... which makes trade dress difficult to prove, even to only a preponderance of the evidence.