Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won not tay ber own

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This information is taken directly from the court opinion. It is not taken out of context nor is it altered.

From Yankee Candle Co. v. Bridgewater Candle Co., 259 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2001)

The district court determined that the "rectangular, gold-bordered name plate, [the] full-bleed photos, and [the use of] similarly sized labels," were "crude, [page 35] physical elements [that] do not enjoy copyright protection," and therefore only evaluated the photographic images on the labels for infringement. Yankee I, 99 F.Supp.2d at 148. Yankee contends that its choices to use such elements were "discretionary," and must be protected by copyright because other choices were possible. We agree with the district court. The "discretion" claimed by Yankee involves (i) the use of a rectangular "title plate" with block lettering on a white background; (ii) the imposition of that title plate, centered, on a photographic representation of the candle fragrance; and (iii) a rectangular border around the photograph. This collection of common geometric shapes with a particular photographic technique is not sufficiently original to qualify for copyright protection. See Atari Games Corp. v. Oman, 979 F.2d 242, 247 (D.C.Cir.1992) ("We do not in any way question the Register's position that `simple geometric shapes and coloring alone are per se not copyrightable.'"); Kitchens of Sara Lee, Inc. v. Nifty Foods Corp., 266 F.2d 541, 545 (2d Cir.1959) (circular, rectangular, and octagonal shapes not protected); William S. Geiger Corp. v. Gigi Accessories, Inc., No. 97 Civ. 5034(JSM), 1997 WL 458668, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Aug.11, 1997) (plaintiff has no right to copyright a geometric shape).