Au-Tomotive Gold, Inc. v. Volkswagen of America, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
457 F.3d 1062 (2006)
Au-Tomotive Gold, Inc. (Auto Gold) (plaintiff) sold car accessories bearing exact replicas of famous automakers' logos, including Volkswagen and Audi's (defendants) marks, without their permission, though Auto Gold licensed some other automakers' marks. Auto Gold sought a declaratory judgment that its use of Volkswagen's and Audi's marks did not infringe, arguing the marks were unprotectable under the doctrine of aesthetic functionality; the district court granted Auto Gold summary judgment, and Volkswagen and Audi appealed.
Whether a mark's aesthetic functionality makes it unprotectable under trademark law only if the mark serves an aesthetic purpose that has nothing to do with identifying the source of a product.