–Susan Perera, Attorney
Do these containers seem similar to you? Confusingly similar?
That is what Coca-Cola, owner of Simply Orange, is claiming. In a recently filed trade dress and patent infringement suit Coca-Cola claims that its Simply Orange container is nonfunctional, contains a patented closure lid, and the new Trop50 packaging is likely to deceive and confuse customers. PepsiCo has asserted that Coca-Cola has no protectable trade dress. So what do you think? Read more about the initiation of this suit at Bloomberg, here.
Earlier this year PepsiCo changed the container of its Trop50 orange juice, as shown below.
This change follows some harsh criticism of the Trop50 and Tropicana labels in 2009 (discussed by Guest Blogger James Mahoney here). Let us know what you think about the Trop50 change and stay tuned for developments if and when this case goes to trial next year.