Dude, can you copyright a hookah?

Description

Abstract: A manufacturer of hookahs alleged that a rival company infringed its copyright by selling hookahs identical in shape but that didn’t include the same images. At issue for the appeals court was the idea of conceptual “separability”: Did distinctiveness of shape affect separability? This article explains that the court determined “no,” but only after deferring to the relevant Copyright Office interpretations. Inhale, Inc. v. Starbuzz Tobacco, Inc., No. 12-56331, Jan. 9, 2014 (9th Cir.)