Product Catalogs for Speaker Handle Are Covered Advertisements

Elcom Hardware, Inc. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 92 Cal. App. 4th 205 (2001) (The claimant Penn Fabrication alleged trade dress infringement because El-Com's "marketing" confused customers as to the origin of a speaker unit handle design. Although the words "advertise" or "promote" were not used in the complaint, Penn alleged injury due to offering for sale, selling, passing and palming off, and using in commerce the copied handle. The advertising was implicated because there was display and presentation of products to a significant number of the client base at trade shows, as well as independent dissemination of product catalogs depicting the infringing handles.)