Brunswick Corporation v. British Seagull Limited and Outboard Marine Corporation

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• explaining that de jure functional features, which rest on utility and the foundation of effective competition, are not entitled to trademark protection
• affirming Board’s finding that the color black was functional for outboard boat engines because, inter alia, it was “compatible” with a wide variety of boat colors, thus showing a “competitive need” to be able to use that feature
• affirming Board’s finding that the color black was functional for outboard boat engines because, inter alia, it was “compatible” with a wide variety of boat colors, thus showing a “competitive need” to be able to use that feature
• color black on boat engines was functional because it was compatible with a variety of boat colors and made objects appear smaller
• boat motor manufacturer not entitled to trademark protection for color black on boat motors because black was more compatible with many colors and it made the motor look smaller

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).