Intellectual Property News and Reports

Bodum USA, Inc. (“Bodum”) pro‐ duces and sells what design magazines and art museums have recognized as an iconically designed houseware product—the Chambord French press coffeemaker. Bodum sued A Top New Casting, Inc. (“A Top”) for selling a French press that Bodum claimed infringes on its unregistered trade dress in the Chambord. After a five‐day trial, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Bodum, finding that A Top had willfully in‐ fringed on Bodum’s trade dress in the Chambord and awarding Bodum $2 million in damages. The district court denied A Top’s post‐trial motion for judgment as a matter of law, in which A Top argued that Bodum failed to prove the Cham‐ bord design was nonfunctional. A Top also moved for a new trial because the court excluded evidence of various utility pa‐ tents covering French press coffeemakers; the district court denied this motion as well. We affirm.

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