WYHA? TTAB Affirms Section 2(e)(5) Functionality Refusal Of Packaging For Cables And Wire

In a thorough, 39-page opinion, the Board affirmed a Section 2(e)(5) functionality refusal of the packaging designs shown below for "electrical cables and wire." The Board found that numerous features of the designs were "dictated by the utilitarian purpose they serve." Moreover, applicant's own patents revealed "the functionality of significant aspects of the design," and its advertising touted some of the features. Alternatively, the Board concluded that the packaging designs are not inherently distinctive and lack acquired distinctiveness. Would you have appealed? In re My Reelex Packaging Solutions, Inc., Serial Nos. 87285383 and 87285412 (October 23, 2019) [not precedential] (Opinion by Deputy Chief Judge Mark A. Thurmon).