No Trade Dress Infringement of French-press Coffee Maker

In 2007, Bodum USA, Inc (Bodum) sued La Cafetière, Inc (La Cafetière) for infringement of the trade dress of its French-press coffee maker, called the Chambord (Chambord design). Both Bodum and La Cafetière manufacture and distribute French-press coffee makers. In 2009, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois summarily dismissed Bodum’s claim because a 1991 share purchase agreement permitted La Cafetière to sell its French-press coffee maker design in the US. On appeal, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Court) affirmed the lower court decision. With respect to trade dress, the Court found that the Chambord design and the La Cafetière design were similar such that a casual coffee drinker would have difficulty telling them apart. The Court noted that a design patent for the Chambord design had expired, and thus other firms were free to copy the design. The Court also found that Bodum failed to produce evidence to show that the Chambord design had acquired secondary meaning. The Court engaged in foreign contract interpretation and affirmed the lower court decision that the 1991 share purchase agreement permitted La Cafetière to sell products similar to the Chambord design anywhere except France, provided that it did not use the Chambord name. Regarding the preferred method of receiving evidence of foreign law (in this case, French law), although the Court came to a single conclusion, this was not without the three Justices feeling compelled to write three separate opinions on the issue. In particular, the erudite and often outspoken Justice Richard Posner took umbrage at the thought that US judges needed experts to tell them how to interpret foreign law, provided they could read it for themselves in English. For the full-text decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Bodum USA Inc v La Cafetière Inc, No 09-1892, see: http://tinyurl.com/399rzbh This is a link to the decision by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Summary by: Lauren Lodenquai