Trade Dress means the characteristics of the visual appearance of the
product or its packaging that signifies or indicates the source of the product.
Trade dress protection is intended to protect consumers from packaging or
appearance of products that are designed to imitate other
products. It aims to prevent consumers from buying one product under the belief
that it is another product i.e., from getting deceived while buying any
product.
The Lanham Act in U.S. is the statute on Trademarks which has provision
for protection of Trade Dress whereas in India we do not have any specific
statute on Trade Dress. Trade dress is one of the aspects of Trademark which
needs to be explored much more in India. The essentials of Trade dress are: 1.
It creates overall look or feel of a brand and 2. It acts as an indicator of
the source of the product to the consumers. E.g., of Trade dress: The shape of
a Coca-Cola bottle can be identified because of the distinct visual appearance
which the consumers can relate to.
