Ezaki Gliko Kabushiki Kaisha v. Lotte International America Co ( 2021 )


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  •                                        PRECEDENTIAL
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
    _______________
    No. 19-3010
    _______________
    EZAKI GLICO KABUSHIKI KAISHA,
    a Japanese Corporation d/b/a Ezaki Glico;
    EZAKI GLICO USA CORP.,
    a California Corporation,
    Appellants
    v.
    LOTTE INTERNATIONAL AMERICA CORP.;
    LOTTE CONFECTIONARY CO. LTD.
    _______________
    On Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the District of New Jersey
    (D.C. No. 2-15-cv-05477)
    District Judge: Honorable Madeline C. Arleo
    _______________
    Argued: July 9, 2020
    Before: McKEE, BIBAS, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges
    (Filed: January 26 ,2021)
    _______________
    Jessica L. Ellsworth              [ARGUED]
    Anna K. Shaw
    Neal K. Katyal
    Benjamin A. Field
    Hogan Lovells US
    555 Thirteenth Street, N.W.
    Columbia Square
    Washington, DC 20004
    Steven M. Levitan
    Hogan Lovells US
    4085 Campbell Avenue
    Menlo Park, CA 94025
    Aaron S. Oakley
    Hogan Lovells US
    1601 Wewatta Street
    Denver, CO 80202
    Katherine B. Wellington
    Hogan Lovells US
    125 High Street, Suite 2010
    Boston, MA 02110
    Roy H. Wepner
    Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik
    20 Commerce Drive
    Cranford, NJ 07016
    Counsel for Appellants
    2
    John J. Dabney                   [ARGUED]
    Mary D. Hallerman
    Snell & Wilmer
    2001 K Street, N.W.
    Suite 425 North
    Washington, DC 20006
    Counsel for Appellees
    David H. Bernstein
    Debevoise & Plimpton
    919 Third Avenue
    New York, NY 10022
    Bruce R. Ewing
    Dorsey & Whitney
    51 West 52nd Street
    New York, NY 10019
    Jonathan E. Moskin
    Foley & Lardner
    90 Park Avenue
    New York, NY 10016
    Claudia E. Ray
    Kirkland & Ellis
    601 Lexington Avenue
    New York, NY 10022
    Counsel for Amicus Curiae in support of Appellants
    International Trademark Association, on Petition for
    Rehearing
    3
    Theodore H. Davis, Jr.
    Kilpatrick Townsend
    1100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2800
    Atlanta, GA 30309
    Sara K. Stadler
    Kilpatrick Townsend
    1114 Avenue of the Americas
    The Grace Building, 21st Floor
    New York, NY 10036
    Counsel for Amicus Curiae in support of Appellants
    National Confectioners Association, on Petition for
    Rehearing
    Adam H. Charnes
    Kilpatrick Townsend
    2001 Ross Avenue, Suite 4400
    Dallas, TX 75201
    Charles H. Hooker, III
    Kilpatrick Townsend
    1100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2800
    Atlanta, GA 30309
    J. David Mayberry
    Rita M. Weeks
    Kilpatrick Townsend
    1114 Avenue of the Americas
    The Grace Building, 21st Floor
    New York, NY 10036
    Counsel for Amicus Curiae in support of Appellants
    Mondelez Global LLC, on Petition for Rehearing
    4
    _______________
    OPINION OF THE COURT
    _______________
    BIBAS, Circuit Judge.
    This is a tale of more than just desserts. Decades ago, Ezaki
    Glico invented Pocky, a chocolate-covered cookie stick. Pocky
    was very popular. And its success drew imitators, including
    Lotte’s Pepero. Ezaki Glico now sues Lotte for trade-dress in-
    fringement.
    The District Court granted Lotte summary judgment, find-
    ing that because Pocky’s design is functional, Ezaki Glico has
    no trade-dress protection. We agree. Trade dress is limited to
    designs that identify a product’s source. It does not safeguard
    designs that are functional—that is, useful. Patent law protects
    useful inventions, but trademark law does not. We will thus
    affirm.
    I. BACKGROUND
    A. A cookie is born: Ezaki Glico’s Pocky
    Ezaki Glico is a Japanese confectionery company. For more
    than half a century, it has made and sold Pocky: a product line
    of thin, stick-shaped cookies (what the British call biscuits).
    These cookies are partly coated with chocolate or a flavored
    cream; some have crushed almonds too. The end of each is left
    partly uncoated to serve as a handle. Ezaki Glico makes Pocky
    in both a standard and an “Ultra Slim” size. Appellant’s Br. 9.
    5
    In 1978, Ezaki Glico started selling Pocky in the United
    States through its wholly owned subsidiary here. Since then, it
    has tried to fend off competitors by registering U.S. trademarks
    and patents. It has two Pocky product configurations registered
    as trade dresses.
    Ezaki Glico also has a utility patent for a “Stick Shaped
    Snack and Method for Producing the Same.” App. 1013–16.
    The first thirteen claims in the patent describe methods for
    making a stick-shaped snack. The final claim covers “[a] stick-
    shaped snack made by the method of claim 1.” App. 1016. The
    width of that stick-shaped snack matches that of Pocky Ultra
    Slim.
    B. A new cookie comes to town: Lotte’s Pepero
    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and others have
    noted Pocky’s appeal. Starting in 1983, another confectionery
    company called Lotte started making Pepero. These snacks are
    also stick-shaped cookies (biscuits) partly coated in chocolate
    or a flavored cream, and some have crushed almonds too. It
    looks remarkably like Pocky. Here are the two products side
    by side:
    6
    See App. 980–83, 1018–19, 1021–24. Lotte and its U.S. sub-
    sidiary have been selling Pepero in the United States for more
    than three decades.
    C. Ezaki Glico’s trade-dress suit
    From 1993 to 1995, Ezaki Glico sent letters to Lotte, noti-
    fying Lotte of its registered trade dress and asking it to cease
    and desist selling Pepero in the United States. Lotte assured
    Ezaki Glico that it would stop until they resolved their dispute.
    But Lotte resumed selling Pepero. For the next two decades,
    Ezaki Glico took no further action.
    In 2015, Ezaki Glico sued Lotte in federal court for selling
    Pepero. Under federal law, Ezaki Glico alleged trademark
    7
    infringement and unfair competition, in violation of the Lan-
    ham (Trademark) Act §§ 32 and 43(a), 
    15 U.S.C. §§ 1114
    ,
    1125(a)(1)(A). Under New Jersey law, it alleged trademark in-
    fringement and unfair competition, in violation of both the
    common law and the New Jersey Fair Trade Act, N.J.S.A.
    § 56:4-1 and 2.
    After discovery, the District Court granted summary judg-
    ment for Lotte, holding that because Pocky’s product configu-
    ration is functional, it is not protected as trade dress. Kaisha v.
    Lotte Int’l Am. Corp., No. 15-5477, 
    2019 WL 8405592
    , at *3
    (D.N.J. July 31, 2019).
    Ezaki Glico now appeals. The District Court had jurisdic-
    tion under 
    15 U.S.C. §§ 1119
     and 1121(a) and 
    28 U.S.C. §§ 1331
    , 1338, and 1367. We have jurisdiction under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    .
    We review the District Court’s grant of summary judgment
    de novo. Cranbury Brick Yard, LLC v. United States, 
    943 F.3d 701
    , 708 (3d Cir. 2019). We will affirm if no material fact is
    genuinely disputed and if, viewing the facts most favorably to
    Ezaki Glico, Lotte merits judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.
    Civ. P. 56(a). Both of Ezaki Glico’s Lanham Act claims de-
    pend on the validity of its trade dress. New Jersey’s unfair-
    competition and trademark laws are not significantly different
    from federal law, so our analysis of Ezaki Glico’s Lanham Act
    claims applies equally to dispose of its state-law claims. See
    Am. Greetings Corp. v. Dan-Dee Imports, Inc., 
    807 F.2d 1136
    ,
    1141 (3d Cir. 1986); 3 J. Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on
    Trademarks and Unfair Competition § 22:1.50 (5th ed. 2020).
    Following the parties’ lead, we focus on federal trademark law.
    8
    II. TRADE-DRESS LAW DOES NOT PROTECT PRODUCT
    DESIGNS THAT ARE USEFUL
    Under the statute, the key issue is whether Pocky’s trade
    dress is functional. Lotte says that it is; Ezaki Glico says no.
    Ezaki Glico equates “functional” with “essential.” Appellants’
    Br. 18, 25 (emphases omitted). But that test is too narrow. It
    misreads the Lanham Act’s text and its relationship with the
    Patent Act. Under both the statute and the case law, a feature’s
    particular design is functional if it is useful. And there are sev-
    eral ways to show functionality.
    A. Patent law protects useful designs, while trademark
    law does not
    Copying is usually legal. It is part of market competition.
    As a rule, unless a patent, copyright, or the like protects an
    item, competitors are free to copy it. TrafFix Devices, Inc. v.
    Mktg. Displays, Inc., 
    532 U.S. 23
    , 29 (2001).
    The Constitution does authorize Congress to grant exclu-
    sive patents and copyrights “[t]o promote the Progress of Sci-
    ence and useful Arts,” but only “for limited Times.” U.S.
    Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 8. Utility patents promote “Science and
    useful Arts” by protecting inventions that are “new and use-
    ful.” 
    35 U.S.C. § 101
    . Design patents protect “any new, original
    and ornamental design.” 
    Id.
     § 171(a). In keeping with the Con-
    stitution’s time limit, utility patents last for twenty years, and
    design patents last for only fifteen years. Id. §§ 154(a)(2), 173.
    If there is no patent, or once a patent expires, competitors are
    free to copy “publicly known design and utilitarian ideas.” Bo-
    nito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., 
    489 U.S. 141
    , 152
    9
    (1989); accord Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Prod. Co., Inc., 
    514 U.S. 159
    , 164 (1995). This way, sellers can compete and build
    on one another’s innovations. That competition improves qual-
    ity and lowers consumers’ costs.
    By contrast, trademark law protects not inventions or de-
    signs per se, but branding. A trademark is a “word, name, sym-
    bol, or device . . . used by a person[ ] . . . to identify and distin-
    guish his or her goods . . . from those manufactured or sold by
    others and to indicate the source of the goods.” 
    15 U.S.C. § 1127
    . Trademark law can protect a product’s “trade dress[,]
    [which] is the overall look of a product or business.” Fair Wind
    Sailing, Inc. v. Dempster, 
    764 F.3d 303
    , 308 (3d Cir. 2014).
    That includes not only a product’s packaging but also its de-
    sign, such as its size, shape, and color. Id.; Wal-Mart Stores,
    Inc. v. Samara Bros., 
    529 U.S. 205
    , 209 (2000).
    We are careful to keep trademark law in its lane. Trade
    dress, like trademark law generally, is limited to protecting the
    owner’s goodwill and preventing consumers from being con-
    fused about the source of a product. Shire US Inc. v. Barr
    Labs., Inc., 
    329 F.3d 348
    , 353 (3d Cir. 2003). We must not
    overextend it to protect all of a product’s features, because
    “product design almost invariably serves purposes other than
    source identification.” TrafFix, 
    532 U.S. at 29
     (quoting Wal-
    Mart, 
    529 U.S. at 213
    ). “Trade dress protection . . . is not in-
    tended to create patent-like rights in innovative aspects of
    product design.” Shire, 
    329 F.3d at 353
    . If it did, it could over-
    ride restrictions on what is patentable and for how long. Qual-
    itex, 
    514 U.S. at
    164–65. After all, trademarks have no time
    limit.
    10
    The functionality doctrine keeps trademarks from usurping
    the place of patents. The Patent and Trademark Office cannot
    register any mark that “comprises any matter that, as a whole,
    is functional.” 
    15 U.S.C. § 1052
    (e)(5). Even after a mark is reg-
    istered, it is a defense to infringement “[t]hat the mark is func-
    tional.” 
    Id.
     § 1115(b)(8); see also id. § 1125(a)(3) (providing
    that the holder of an unregistered mark must prove that the
    mark “is not functional”). Thus, even if copying would confuse
    consumers about a product’s source, competitors may copy un-
    patented functional designs.
    B. Functional designs need not be essential,
    just useful
    The core dispute here is how to define “functional.” Ezaki
    Glico reads it narrowly, equating it with “essential.” Appel-
    lant’s Br. 18, 25. But that is not what the word means.
    Since the Lanham Act does not define functionality, we
    start with its ordinary meaning. A feature’s design is functional
    if it is “designed or developed chiefly from the point of view
    of use: UTILITARIAN.” Functional (def. 2a), Webster’s Third
    New International Dictionary (1966). So something is func-
    tional as long as it is “practical, utilitarian”—in a word, useful.
    Functional (def. 2d), Oxford English Dictionary (2d ed. 1989).
    The word requires nothing more.
    Reading functionality as usefulness explains how the Lan-
    ham Act fits with the Patent Act. Utility patents, not trade-
    marks, protect inventions or designs that are “new and useful.”
    
    35 U.S.C. § 101
    . If the Lanham Act protected designs that were
    useful but not essential, as Ezaki Glico claims, it would invade
    11
    the Patent Act’s domain. Because the Lanham Act excludes
    useful designs, the two statutes rule different realms.
    Precedent also supports defining functional as useful. In
    Qualitex, the Supreme Court described the functionality doc-
    trine as protecting competition by keeping a producer from per-
    petually “control[ling] a useful product feature.” 
    514 U.S. at 164
    . In TrafFix, the Court described functionality as depending
    on whether “the feature in question is shown as a useful part of
    the invention.” 
    532 U.S. at 34
    . It contrasted functional features
    disclosed in a utility patent with “arbitrary, incidental, or orna-
    mental aspects” that “do not serve a purpose within the terms
    of the utility patent.” 
    Id.
     And in Wal-Mart, the Court contrasted
    designs that only “identify the source” with those that “render
    the product itself more useful or more appealing.” 
    529 U.S. at 213
    . “[M]ore useful or more appealing” is a far cry from es-
    sential.
    Conversely, a design is not functional if all it does is iden-
    tify its maker. “Proof of nonfunctionality generally requires a
    showing that the element of the product serves no purpose
    other than identification.” Keene Corp. v. Paraflex Indus., Inc.,
    
    653 F.2d 822
    , 826 (3d Cir. 1981) (quoting SK&F, Co. v. Premo
    Pharm. Labs., Inc., 
    625 F.2d 1055
    , 1063 (3d Cir. 1980)). But
    if a design gives a product an edge in usefulness, then it is func-
    tional.
    Ezaki Glico resists this reading by focusing on one phrase
    from Qualitex. The heart of its claim is the first sentence of its
    argument: “A product’s configuration is functional for pur-
    poses of trade dress protection only ‘if it is essential to the use
    or purpose of the article or if it affects the cost or quality of the
    12
    article.’ ” Appellants’ Br. 22 (quoting Qualitex, 
    514 U.S. at 165
    , and adding the emphasis). But the word “only” is nowhere
    on the page it cites. Though Ezaki Glico’s forceful brief repeats
    “essential” more than four dozen times and structures its case
    around that touchstone, the authority does not support its drum-
    beat.
    On the contrary, the Supreme Court recognizes several
    ways to show that a product feature is functional. One way is
    indeed to show that a feature “is essential to the use or purpose
    of the article.” Qualitex, 
    514 U.S. at 165
     (quoting Inwood
    Labs., Inc. v. Ives Labs., Inc., 
    456 U.S. 844
    , 850 n.10 (1995)).
    Another is if “it affects the cost or quality of the article.” 
    Id.
    (Ezaki Glico keeps skipping over this part of the test.) At least
    in some cases, a feature is functional and unprotected if the
    “exclusive use of [the feature] would put competitors at a sig-
    nificant non-reputation-related disadvantage.” TrafFix, 
    532 U.S. at 32
     (quoting Qualitex, 
    514 U.S. at 165
    ). All of these are
    different ways of showing usefulness. (Though this last inquiry
    is especially apt for proving aesthetic functionality, the Court
    has not specifically limited it to that context. See TrafFix, 
    532 U.S. at 33
    .) On the other hand, a feature is “not functional” if,
    for instance, “it is merely an ornamental, incidental, or arbi-
    trary aspect of the device.” 
    Id. at 30
    .
    We analyze functionality not at the level of the entire prod-
    uct or type of feature, but at the level of the particular design
    chosen for feature(s). Just “because an article is useful for
    some purpose,” it does not follow that “all design features of
    that article must be ‘functional.’ ” 1 McCarthy § 7:70 (empha-
    ses added). The question is not whether the product or feature
    13
    is useful, but whether “the particular shape and form” chosen
    for that feature is. Id.
    For instance, though ironing-board pads need “to use some
    color . . . to avoid noticeable stains,” there is no functional rea-
    son to use green-gold in particular. Qualitex, 
    514 U.S. at 166
    .
    Though French press coffeemakers need some handle, there is
    no functional reason to design the particular handle in the shape
    of a “C.” Bodum USA, Inc. v. A Top New Casting Inc., 
    927 F.3d 486
    , 492–93 (7th Cir. 2019) (also noting that the design sacri-
    ficed ergonomics). And though armchairs need some armrest,
    there is no functional reason to design the particular armrest as
    a trapezoid. Blumenthal Distrib., Inc. v. Herman Miller, Inc.,
    
    963 F.3d 859
    , 867–68 (9th Cir. 2020) (also noting that the de-
    sign sacrificed comfort). Ironing-board colors, coffee-pot han-
    dles, and armrests are all generally useful. But the particular
    designs chosen in those cases offered no edge in usefulness.
    Also, a combination of functional and non-functional fea-
    tures can be protected as trade dress, so long as the non-func-
    tional features help make the overall design distinctive and
    identify its source. See Am. Greetings, 
    807 F.2d at 1143
    .
    But a product’s design, including its shape, is often useful
    and thus functional. For example, when Nabisco sued Kellogg
    for making its shredded wheat pillow-shaped, just like
    Nabisco’s, the Supreme Court rejected the unfair-competition
    claim. The pillow shape is functional because using another
    shape would increase shredded wheat’s cost and lower its qual-
    ity. Kellogg Co. v. Nat’l Biscuit Co., 
    305 U.S. 111
    , 122 (1938).
    For the same reason, the Court rejected a challenge to copying
    the exact shape of a pole lamp. Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel
    14
    Co., 
    376 U.S. 225
    , 231–32 (1964). And if an inventor created
    a new light-bulb shape that improved illumination, he could
    not trademark that shape. Qualitex, 
    514 U.S. at 165
    . That
    would be true even if consumers associated the bulb shape with
    its inventor, because trademarking it would “frustrat[e] com-
    petitors’ legitimate efforts to produce an equivalent illumina-
    tion-enhancing bulb.” 
    Id.
     So long as the design improves cost,
    quality, or the like, it cannot be protected as trade dress. The
    shape need only be useful, not essential. Conversely, a distinc-
    tive logo, pattern, or other arbitrary shape or style may be non-
    functional and protectable as a trade dress.
    As the leading trademark treatise concurs, “functional”
    means useful. “To boil it down to a phrase: something is ‘func-
    tional’ if it works better in this shape.” 1 McCarthy § 7:63. That
    includes features that make a product cheaper or easier to make
    or use. Id. Because the functionality bar is supposed to keep
    “trade dress from creating ‘back-door patents,’ . . . . the test of
    what is ‘functional’ should be very similar to that of patent
    law.” Id. § 7:67.
    C. Evidence of functionality
    There are several ways to prove functionality. First, evi-
    dence can directly show that a feature or design makes a prod-
    uct work better. See Am. Greetings, 
    807 F.2d at 1142
     (treating
    as functional “tummy graphics” on teddy bears because they
    signal each bear’s personality). Second, it is “strong evidence”
    of functionality that a product’s marketer touts a feature’s use-
    fulness. 
    Id.
     at 1142–43. Third, “[a] utility patent is strong evi-
    dence that the features therein claimed are functional.”
    TrafFix, 
    532 U.S. at 29
    . Fourth, if there are only a few ways to
    15
    design a product, the design is functional. Keene, 
    653 F.2d at 827
    . But the converse is not necessarily true: the existence of
    other workable designs is relevant evidence but not inde-
    pendently enough to make a design non-functional. Id.; 1
    McCarthy § 7:75 (interpreting TrafFix, 
    532 U.S. at
    33–34).
    Our list is not exhaustive; there may be other considera-
    tions. The Federal Circuit and other sister circuits also use sim-
    ilar inquiries. See, e.g., Georgia-Pac. Consumer Prods. LP v.
    Kimberly-Clark Corp., 
    647 F.3d 723
    , 727–28 (7th Cir. 2011);
    Disc Golf Ass’n, Inc. v. Champion Discs, Inc., 
    158 F.3d 1002
    ,
    1006 (9th Cir. 1998); In re Morton-Norwich Prods., Inc., 
    671 F.2d 1332
    , 1340–41 (C.C.P.A. 1982) (predecessor to the Fed-
    eral Circuit).
    With these definitions and inquiries in mind, we can now
    apply them to this case.
    III. POCKY’S TRADE DRESS IS FUNCTIONAL
    To decide whether a trade dress is functional, we look at the
    usefulness of the exact feature or set of features claimed by the
    trade dress. See Am. Greetings, 
    807 F.2d at 1141
    . Ezaki Glico
    has two registered Pocky trade dresses, both broad. The first
    “comprises an elongated rod comprising biscuit or the like,
    partially covered with chocolate.” App 10, 1448. The second
    consists of the same sort of snack, along with almonds on top
    of the chocolate or cream.
    16
    In a picture, Ezaki Glico’s trade dresses include all cookies
    like these:
    App. 292. The trade dresses are presumptively valid because
    they are registered and incontestable. See 
    15 U.S.C. § 1115
    . So
    Lotte bears the burden of proving that they are functional. 
    Id.
    §§ 1115(a), (b)(8).
    Ezaki Glico argues that none of these features is essential
    to make the snack easy to eat. But that is the wrong test. Lotte
    has shown that Pocky’s design is useful and thus functional.
    A. Pocky’s design makes it work better as a snack
    Every feature of Pocky’s registration relates to the practical
    functions of holding, eating, sharing, or packing the snack.
    Consider each stick’s uncoated handle. Ezaki Glico’s internal
    documents show that it wanted to make a snack that people
    could eat without getting chocolate on their hands. Pocky was
    born when Ezaki Glico found that it could coat just part of a
    17
    cookie stick, leaving people an uncoated place to hold it. So it
    designed Pocky’s handle to be useful.
    The same is true of Pocky’s stick shape. As Ezaki Glico
    recognizes, the stick shape makes it “easy to hold, so it c[an]
    be shared with others to enjoy as a snack.” App. 595. It also
    lets people eat the cookie without having to open their mouths
    wide. And the thin, compact shape lets Ezaki Glico pack many
    sticks in each box, enough to share with friends.
    Viewed as a whole, Pocky’s trade dress is functional. The
    claimed features are not arbitrary or ornamental flourishes that
    serve only to identify Ezaki Glico as the source. The design
    makes Pocky more useful as a snack, and its advantages make
    Pocky more appealing to consumers for reasons well beyond
    reputation. See Kellogg, 
    305 U.S. at 120
    . As Ezaki Glico’s own
    documents acknowledge, “Pocky provides a functional value
    [Enjoy chocolate lightly].” App. 636 (bracketed material in
    original).
    B. Ezaki Glico promotes Pocky’s utilitarian
    advantages
    There is plenty of evidence that Ezaki Glico promotes
    Pocky’s “convenient design.” App. 646. Its ads tout all the use-
    ful features described above. It advertises “the no mess handle
    of the Pocky stick,” which “mak[es] it easier for multi-tasking
    without getting chocolate on your hands.” App. 648, 651. It
    also describes Pocky as “[p]ortable,” since “one compact,
    easy-to-carry package holds plentiful amounts of Pocky.” App.
    648. “With plenty of sticks in each package, Pocky lends itself
    18
    to sharing anytime, anywhere, and with anyone.” App. 655.
    These promotions confirm that Pocky’s design is functional.
    C. There are alternative designs, but that does not
    make Pocky’s design non-functional
    Lotte could have shaped its Pepero differently. Ezaki Glico
    offers nine examples of partly-chocolate-coated snacks that do
    not look like Pocky. That is hardly dispositive. As we noted in
    Keene, even when there are alternatives, the evidence can still
    show that a product design is functional. 653 F.3d at 827. That
    is true here. Every aspect of Pocky is useful. The nine other
    designs do not make it less so.
    D. Ezaki Glico’s utility patent for a manufacturing
    method is irrelevant
    Finally, Lotte argues that Ezaki Glico’s utility patent for a
    “Stick Shaped Snack and Method for Producing the Same”
    proves functionality. It does not.
    As TrafFix explained, “[a] utility patent is strong evidence
    that the features therein claimed are functional.” 
    532 U.S. at 29
    . This is because patented items must be “useful.” 
    35 U.S.C. § 101
    . If a patentee relied on a product’s feature to show that
    the product was patentable, that reliance is good evidence that
    the feature is useful. As TrafFix put it, the question is whether
    the “central advance” of the utility patent is also “the essential
    feature of the trade dress” that the owners want to protect. 
    532 U.S. at 30
    . So Ezaki Glico’s utility patent would be strong ev-
    idence of functionality if the features it claimed overlapped
    with its trade dress. But they do not.
    19
    The trade dress that Ezaki Glico defends is a stick-shaped
    snack that is partly coated with chocolate or cream. Yet those
    features are not the “central advance” of its utility patent. In-
    stead, the patent’s innovation is a better method for making the
    snack’s stick shape. The method is useful for making the shape
    whether or not the shape itself is useful for anything. Thus, the
    patent’s mention of the shape says nothing about whether the
    shape is functional.
    The District Court erroneously considered the utility patent.
    But that error was immaterial. Even setting that aside, many
    other factors show that Pocky’s trade dress is functional and so
    not protectable. Thus, the District Court properly granted sum-
    mary judgment for Lotte. We need not reach other possible
    grounds for affirmance.
    * * * * *
    Though Ezaki Glico created Pocky, it cannot use trade
    dress protection to keep competitors from copying it. The Lan-
    ham Act protects features that serve only to identify their
    source. It does not cover functional (that is, useful) features.
    That is the domain of patents, not trademarks. Ezaki Glico has
    not borne its burden of showing nonfunctionality. TrafFix, 
    532 U.S. at 32
    . There is no real dispute that Pocky’s design is use-
    ful, so the trade dress is not protectable. We will thus affirm.
    That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
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