THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND TELEVISION, and BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO, Plaintiffs, v. GOODTIMES HOME VIDEO CORP., Defendant., 830 F. Supp. 762

Summary

Plaintiffs, a major motion picture owner and their affiliates, were the owners of the rights to a popular movie. Defendant made video tape cassettes that were similar to plaintiffs' movie. Plaintiffs sued defendant for alleged infringement of their trade dress and asserted theories of false designation of origin under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 1125(a), deceptive practices and false advertising under state law, and common law unfair competition. Plaintiffs also sought an injunction. Plaintiffs argued that the packages had a similar overall look that constituted a protectable trade dress. The claims were that the overall look of a number of different packages was the cause of the infringement. On review, the court held that plaintiffs failed to establish that the videocassette packages had a consistent overall look. Therefore, there was no proof of the existence of trade dress. Judgement was entered for defendant.