In re Becton, Dickinson and Company
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
675 F.3d 1368 (2012)
Relevant factsFree
Becton, Dickinson and Company (plaintiff) applied to register its blood-collection-tube closure cap design as a trademark, though the design mixed functional and nonfunctional features. The examining attorney refused registration as functional, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board upheld that refusal. Becton appealed, arguing the design as a whole was nonfunctional.
IssueFree
Whether the critical question in determining a proposed trademark's non-registerability for functionality is the degree of utility present in the design as a whole.