Hot Packaging Gets Trademarked

As I walked down the aisle in the supermarket shopping for a particular brand of hot sauce, I realized the price differences among the more popular varieties. When I looked at the more expensive hot sauce brands I noticed something peculiar: the premium hot sauces have more distinctively shaped bottles. So I developed an intellectual property hypothesis right on the spot! (o.k. I need to get some hobbies…)

My Hypothesis: The more expensive and distinctive hot sauce bottles will have 3-D shape trademarks to secure their unique look and feel.

I later verified this (at http://www.uspto.gov) and found that the two more expensive brands with unique design features indeed have registered trademarks. The first one is the Cholula brand with a trademark on its distinctive wooden top. The other is the Tabasco brand with a trademark  on its unique red cap and green label on the neck. The other brands listed below have no such packaging trademarks.

2 thoughts on “Hot Packaging Gets Trademarked

    • Andrew,

      That’s right. 3D trademarks can apply to all sorts of bottles, as long as they are distinctive enough, e.g. having a uniquely shaped wooden top.

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