Our talented summer associate, Sydney Schnur, has solved the nagging question of which way the toilet paper should hang on the roll.

 

 

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To start, Patent No. 465,588 ends the argument of which way the toilet paper roll should be (pictured above). However, the toilet paper disputes are far from over. In fact, Westlaw has published eighty-two federal intellectual property cases discussing toilet paper from 1889 to date. Moreover, seventeen of these cases really were on a roll. Specifically, seventeen of these cases covered disputes over toilet paper.^1-17 Ten of these cases made their way to the United States Court of Appeals, while one case rolled its way into the Supreme Court of the United States.

Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Kimberly-Clark Corp (2011) is the most recently published intellectual property case on toilet paper.¹ The Court makes many mentions that this case is, in fact, about toilet paper, making the case a humorous read.¹ During the discovery period, around “675,000 pages of documents were produced.”¹⁸ A few associates might have needed some toilet paper after those documents were placed on their desk. However, at the end of the day, everyone rolled with it. In conclusion, the Court held that functionality cannot be trademarked and that the diamond design on toilet paper actually performs a function—something to consider the next time you run out.¹

 

 

 

References

¹Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 647 F.3d 723 (7th Cir. 2011)

²Martin v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 57 C.C.P.A. 968 (1970)

³Morgan Envelope Co. v. Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Co., 14 S. Ct. 627 (US 1894)

⁴U.S. v. Douglas Paper Co., 41 C.C.P.A. 247 (1953)

⁵Oakford Co. v. Kroger Co., 157 F. Supp. 453 (S.D. IL 1957)

⁶Paper Converting Mach. Co. v. FMC Corp., 274 F. Supp. 372 (1967)

⁷Application of Heinle, 647 F.3d 723 (7^th Cir. 2011)

⁸Paper Converting Mach. Co., Inc. v. FMC Corp., 432 F. Supp. 907 (E.D. WI 1977)

⁹Paper Converting Mach. Co. v. Magna-Graphics Corp., 680 F.2d 483 (7th Cir. 1982)

¹⁰Marcal Paper Mills, Inc. v. Scott Paper Co., 290 F. Supp. 43 (NJ 1968)

¹¹Safeway Stores v. Dunnell, 172 40 F. 577 (NY 1889)

¹²Morgan Envelope Co. v. Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Co., 647 F.3d 723 (7^th Cir. 2011)

¹³Sheridan-Clayton Paper Co. v. U.S. Envelope Co., 232 F. 153 (8th Cir. 1916)

¹⁴In re Northern Paper Mills, 20 C.C.P.A. 1109 (1933)

¹⁵Scott Paper Co. v. Scott’s Liquid Gold, Inc., 439 F. Supp. 1022 (DE 1977)

¹⁶National Cash Register Co. v. National Paper Products Co., 54 App. D.C. 278 (1924)

¹⁷Sauquoit Paper Co. v. Weistock, 18 C.C.P.A. 927 (1931)

¹⁸Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 647 F.3d 723, 725 (7^th Cir. 2011)