US-CA9 · jury_instructions
9th Cir. Model Jury Instr. (Civil) 15.7
Infringement—Elements and Burden of Proof—Trade Dress (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1))
On the plaintiff [name]’s claim for trade dress infringement, the plaintiff [name] has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence each of the following elements:
First, [describe the plaintiff’s trade dress] is distinctive;
Second, the plaintiff [name] owns [describe the plaintiff [name]’s trade dress] as trade dress;
Third, the [describe the plaintiff’s trade dress] is nonfunctional; and
Fourth, the defendant [name] used [describe trade dress used by the defendant] [trade dress similar to [describe the plaintiff’s trade dress]] without the consent of the plaintiff [name] in a manner that is likely to cause confusion among ordinary consumers as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or approval of the [plaintiff [name]’s] [defendant [name]’s] goods.
If you find that each of the elements on which the plaintiff [name] has the burden of proof has been proved, your verdict should be for the plaintiff [name]. If, on the other hand, the plaintiff [name] has failed to prove any of these elements, your verdict should be for the defendant [name].
Provenance
- Source
- ce9.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- 2026-08-20
- Content hash
4bf4ffe2afd148e63ddc573d0bffdaf79d1664d673b9f1c7569be746ec7fdf54
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