Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/246577
PA C K AGING Configurations Similar to color, configurations can also function as trademarks. Offbeat IP LLC (Sonoma, Calif.) owns a mark consisting of a three-dimensional configuration of a specific design feature of the packaging, i.e., lines of various dimensions circling a bottle in various directions and crossing over each other to give the appearance of ribbon. Offbeat uses the distinctive criss-crossed rib- bons to designate its wines separate a nd apa r t f rom it s w i ne bra nd Slices. The prevalent use of these distinctive ribbons allowed Offbeat to register the ribbon design as a trademark thus preventing any other winery from using a similar ribbon design. Francis Coppola Winery (Geyserville, Calif.), owns a configuration mark for its Director 's Cut "film" label where the mark consists of the shape and placement of a label on a bottle. The thin, long rectangular label wraps around the bottle diagonally twice. Label design The protectable design elements in a wine label itself can be trademarked. Offbeat owns the word mark Jellybean for wines. Offbeat also trademarked its pr actica l win ery & vin eya r d F EB RUARY 20 14 69