More and more businesses seem to be warming to the idea of trademark rights in store designs. Yes, store fronts and interiors, you know the distressed facades showing exposed bricks, the marquee sign on top of the store with a funny looking arrow pointing in no direction whatsoever, the arrangement of merchandise display tables. Those designs. True, a store design is not necessarily a word or solitary logo like we think of when we think about ordinary trademarks (ordinary meaning plain old words, phrases, and logos). The fact remains that store designs make just as compelling an impact on consumer perceptions than a word or logo flashing across the television screen or calling out to you from a billboard.
But enough pontificating. Let’s take a case-in-point: the Apple Store.