Cite as: 529 U. S. 205 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
Stuart M. Riback argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was Mark I. Levy.*
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
In this case, we decide under what circumstances a prod-uct's design is distinctive, and therefore protectible, in an action for infringement of unregistered trade dress under § 43(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act), 60 Stat. 441, as amended, 15 U. S. C. § 1125(a).
I
Respondent Samara Brothers, Inc., designs and manufactures children's clothing. Its primary product is a line of spring/summer one-piece seersucker outfits decorated with appliqués of hearts, flowers, fruits, and the like. A number of chain stores, including JCPenney, sell this line of clothing under contract with Samara.
Petitioner Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is one of the Nation's best known retailers, selling among other things children's clothing. In 1995, Wal-Mart contracted with one of its suppliers, Judy-Philippine, Inc., to manufacture a line of children's outfits for sale in the 1996 spring/summer season. Wal-Mart sent Judy-Philippine photographs of a number of garments from Samara's line, on which Judy-Philippine's garments were to be based; Judy-Philippine duly copied, with
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the International Mass Retail Association by Jeffrey S. Sutton and Robert J. Verdisco; for the Private Label Manufacturers Association by Arthur M. Handler; and for Scott P. Zimmerman by Charles W. Calkins.
H. Bartow Farr III, Richard G. Taranto, and Stephen M. Trattner filed a brief for Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance.
Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the American Intellectual Property Law Association by Sheldon H. Klein, Michael A. Grow, and Louis T. Pirkey; for the International Trademark Association by Theodore H. Davis, Jr., Morton D. Goldberg, and Marie V. Driscoll; and for Payless Shoesource, Inc., by William A. Rudy and Robert Kent Sellers.
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