Although the male strippers group Chippendales has a number of trademarks, including a trademark for what I thought was their famous (infamous?) costume of a bow tie and cuffs (see below), it was denied in its effort to register the costume as an inherently distinctive (the highest form of trademark protection) trademark. Now don’t you look at that drawing and think Chippendales? The Patent and Trademark Office didn’t think so and now the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agrees, finding the costume was too much like the Playboy bunny costume and in any event, no male stripper costume (which often mimics male icons like firemen) can be considered inherently distinctive. Better luck next time.
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