Editing Trade dress (section)

====Statutory source====
Trademark law is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution of the United States (as opposed to patent and copyright protection law); as such, trademark law—and thus, trade dress—is enforced on the state level in addition to the federal level.

In the U.S., like [[trademark]]s, a product's trade dress is legally protected by the [[Lanham Act]], the federal statute which regulates trademarks and trade dress.<ref>Lanham Act, {{USC|15|22}}</ref> Under section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, a product's trade dress can be protected without formal registration with the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] (USPTO).<ref>Merges at 650; Lanham Act, {{USCSub|15|1125|a}}</ref> In part, section 43(a) states the following:

<blockquote>Any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, or any container for goods, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which{{ubl|item_style=margin-left: 3em;text-indent:-1.5em
|(A) is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive ... as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of  his or her goods, services, or commercial activities by another person, or
|(B) in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another person's goods, services, or commercial activities,}}
shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he or she is likely to be damaged by such an act.<ref>{{USCSub|15|1125|a}}</ref></blockquote>

This statute allows the owner of a particular trade dress ("container for goods") to sue an infringer (a person or entity who illegally copies that trade dress) for violating section 43(a) without registering that trade dress with any formal agency or system (unlike the registration and application requirements for enforcing other forms of intellectual property, such as patents).  It is commonly seen as providing "federal common law" protection for trade dress (and trademarks).<ref>Merges at 650</ref>