Shoe soles and other shoe designs and patterns can be non-traditional trademarks. The Louboutin red soled women’s designer shoesare well known, expensive, and the subject of trademark litigation (for an excellent discussion, see: Duets Blog Louboutin Red-Sole & Surrounding Contrast: An Implied Trademark Limitation).

Here are some other interesting and/or well known shoe patterns, soles, and designs that are registered with the USPTO. Some of them, as you can see, are quite well known [all are registered for footwear products; click images for USPTO records]:

• Owner: Adidas [Description of Mark: The mark consists of three parallel stripes applied to footwear, the stripes are positioned on the footwear upper in the area between the laces and the sole. The dotted outline of the footwear is not claimed as part of the mark and is intended only to show the position of the mark.]
• Owner: Prada [Description of Mark: The mark consists of a red stripe placed longitudinally along the middle of the heel of an item of footwear, partly covering the rear of the sole and partly the rear of the item of footwear. Any molding seen on the sole or on the rear part of the item of footwear and/or production characteristic are not part of the mark.]
• [Description of Mark: The mark consists of a blue rectangular design which is attached to the heel or sole of footwear.]
• Owner: Vans
•  Owner: Converse [Description of Mark: The mark consists of Repeating Star Design.]
• Owner: Converse [Description of Mark: The mark consists of the three dimensional trade dress design of the iconic and classic Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe for which the following primary features are claimed: (a) Multi-Patterned Rubber Toe Strip. The rubber toe strip has four layers of bands featuring intricate and distinct patterns of three-dimensional diamonds and lines. (b) Ankle Patch on the Inside Ankle. The round patch design with double dashed line just inside the boundary of the circular patch, with a star in the center. (c) Double Rand Stripes. Two parallel horizontal lines run along the rubber outsole of the shoe. The uppermost contrasting stripe runs along the edge of the rubber outsole around the entire circumference of the shoe, including on the toe cap. The second contrasting stripe appears midway along the rubber outsole and runs from the front edge of the license plate heel tab to the back edge of the rubber toe bumper. (d) Brushed Metal Grommets in Medial Side Arch. Two round brushed steel grommets are placed in a horizontal line above the inside medial arch of the shoe. (e) Brushed Metal Eyestay Grommets. A series of equally-spaced wide, round brushed metal eyestay grommets are part of the lacing system instead of hooks, loops, D-rings, or other holding and lacing mechanisms. (f) Convex Rubber Toe Cap. A raised, protruding rubber toe cap. (g) Double Stitching and Box-Like Stitch Along the Upper. (h) Top Line Collar Throat Shape. The matter shown in broken lines, namely, the license plate heel tab as well as the outline of the shoe along the upper, the tongue, the back edge, the rear panel, and the sole are not part of the mark. The broken lines serve only to show the position or placement of the primary features of the trade dress. The dashed lines indicating the Double Stitching and Box-Like Stitch Along the Upper are part of the mark.]
• [Description of Mark: The mark consists of the placement of a stripe of light emitting diodes going down the center of the bottom of the sole of women's heeled shoes. The matter shown by broken lines is not part of the mark and only serves to show the position of the mark.]
•  Owner: Vans [Description of Mark: The mark consists of The mark consists of a stylized checkerboard design positioned around the sidewall on the sole of a shoe. The design of a shoe represented by dotted lines is not part of the mark and only serves to show placement of the mark on the goods.]
• Owner: Vans [Description of Mark: The mark consists of a three-dimensional configuration of a checkerboard pattern on the entire upper portion of a shoe. The broken lines depicting the outline of the shoe indicates placement of the mark on the goods and are not part of the mark.]
• Owner: DC Shoes [Description of Mark: The mark is a repetitive design representing the letters "C" and "D" covering some or all of the shoe soles. It may also be described as a pill pattern, as the "C" and "D" are stylized to resemble two opposing semi-capsule forms. The pattern is not limited to a particular portion of the shoe sole and the dotted outline of a shoe is not a part of the mark.]
• Owner: Nike [Description of Mark: The mark consists of the design of the tread on the sole a shoe. The broken lines show the position of the mark on the goods and are not claimed as a part of the mark. Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark.]

Also, here are two interesting pending USPTO trademark applications. Does either one create an issue for Louboutin?

• Owner: ECOclean Corporation [Description of Mark: The mark consists of lacquered green sole on footwear.]
• Owner: Bella Belle, LLC [Description of Mark: The mark consists of a stylized red heart design comprised of multiple circles on the sole of footwear for women. The matter shown by broken lines is not part of the mark and only serves to show the position of the mark.]

The week, I have written about a variety of non-traditional trademarks: sound, makeup, costumes/uniforms, and color (see tomorrow’s posting). Previously, I have written about lighting display trademarks (Non-traditional trademarks: Lighting displays), Boise State’s blue turf field trademark, as well as Marching ducks, goats on a roof, sound of a Lightsaber, and other unusual trademarks and other Examples of non-traditional trademarks: scents, textures, uniforms, and more.

You might say I’m obsessed with non-traditional trademarks and you are probably correct. They fascinate me because they demonstrate the core quality of any trademark — to indicate the source of a product or service. 

As brands become more valuable and increasingly interactive, and businesses must do more to create value and to stand apart from their competition, I believe that the future of non-traditional trademarks is very promising.

Here are some other non-traditional trademarks, not covered in detail previously [click for USPTO records]:

• - Transportation of passengers, property, cargo and freight by air; and aircraft chartering services [Description of Mark: The mark consists of a two-dimensional color design incorporating the colors red, dark red, blue, dark blue, light gray and dark gray, in a design which suggests the three-dimensional image of billowing fabric.]
•  - candy (DOTS®)
• - air fresheners and other goods
•  - Clothing, namely, t-shirts, tank tops, vests, underwear, undershirts, underpants, panties, socks and swim wear [Description of Mark: The mark consists of trade dress product packaging in the form of a three dimensional rectangular cigarette box with a flip top opening for the packaging of clothing.]
• - Restaurant services featuring chocolate beverages [Description of Mark: The mark consists of Three-dimensional representation of a cup and saucer.] 
•  - casino and other services [Description of Mark: The mark consists of trade dress consisting of a three-dimensional building with concave facade, a curved roofline sweeping up toward the left top corner when viewed from the front and the word "WYNN" in a stylized script in the top left corner. The horizontal lining does not indicate color, but is a feature of the trade dress.]
• - crayons
•  - Sculpted fresh fruit, fresh strawberries and chocolate dipped strawberries arrangements in a basket [Description of Mark: The mark consists of the overall bouquet design, including the shaped fruit, the uncut fruit to the extent that it makes up the overall bouquet design, and the basket]
• - automobiles [Description of Mark: The mark consists of the unique motion in which the door of a vehicle is opened. The doors move parallel to the body of the vehicle but are gradually raised above the vehicle to a parallel position]
• - Non alcoholic beverages, namely, soft drinks, energy drinks, hypertonic drinks [Description of Mark: The mark consists of a punch out design of a bull as the opening in the configuration of a blue pull tab on the top of a can. The configuration and placement of the pull tab are not claimed as features of the mark]

What are your favorite non-traditional trademarks

Sounds can function as trademarks. And in fact, at least a few dozen of them are registered trademarks with the USPTO. See below for some fun samples.

Sounds can be very powerful trademarks. Because of the way sound and memory interact.

A great example showing the power of sounds is the Lexus holiday commercials. A person hears “the Lexus tune” and immediately knows that a loved one has bought them a new Lexus automobile. Lexus has used the song for more than 10 years.

Amazingly, in my opinion, Lexus has not filed for registration for the tune as a trademark. They clearly spend a lot of money promoting it.

Songs have the ability to stick in our memory. And songs/tunes can convey a lot of emotion. These make them valuable tools in marketing and branding.

Sounds that occur in the normal course of operation of a product cannot be inherently distinctive, like the sound made by an alarm clock.  Sounds that are solely the result of the operation of the goods – i.e. the Harley-Davidson roar of an engine – cannot be registered at all.

Here are some registered sound trademarks (click to play audio):

• The sound made by a toy Lightsaber (Description of Mark: The mark consists of the sound of an oscillating humming buzz created by combining feedback from a microphone with a projector motor sound.)
• The sound of the begining of Sportscenter on ESPN
• The NBC chimes
• The giggle of the Pilsbury doughboy
• Yahoo!’s yodel of “Yahoo!”
• The Law & Order “thump thump”
• The roar of the MGM lion
• The Looney Tunes theme song
•  The Mattress Discounter’s jingle
• The Harlem Globetrotter’s “Sweet Georgia Brown”
• The Mister Softee ice cream truck jingle

The Wall Street Journal recently had an article about AT&T’s creation of a new sound for its commercials and logo. See here. AT&T invested a lot of money in the new sound. And they wisely filed to protect it. To play AT&T’s new sound mark, click here.

For more examples from the USPTO on sound trademarks, see http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/kidsound.html