The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a U.S. District Court ruling that Companion Products Inc.’s “Cody Cow” Computer Topper infringes Gateway Computers cow-motif trademark.

Companion Products makes computer plush animal heads that attach to stretch bands which wrap around computer monitors. Its collection includes numerous animals, including a cow, which naturally, is white with black spots. Consumers may buy these toppers (after market) to decorate their computer monitors. Cody Cow quickly became a best-seller, the cream of the crop, one might say.

No COWards they, Gateway, which has a trademark registration for the cow-motif as used in connection with computers, sued in Federal Court for trademark infringement. Companion argued that Cody was, well, a cow, that cows have spots, and that it was not using Cody specifically to market its plush heads, but merely selling a cow. Gateway’s response was that such a defense was Bull, and proffered expert testimony that the cow motif as used in connection with computers was widely recognized to be a Gateway trademark. Evidently, both the lower court and 8th Circuit agreed with Gateway, requiring Companion Products to change Cody’s spots. Notwithstanding the fact that cows do come in many colors, we think the 8th Circuit’s holding is udderly ridiculous.

This entry was posted by Tsan Abrahamson on Tuesday, September 21st, 2004 at 12:01 am and is filed under Trademarks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.