Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won not tay ber own

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Ellison Equioment v AccuCut Systems, 769 F. Supp. 1090 - Dist. Court, D. Nebraska 1991 Ellison is actively engaged in the design, manufacture, promotion and sale of paper die punch machines, dies, and various related items. The machines and dies are marketed to educational systems as a means for producing paper cutouts in the form of letters and decorative figures for the use in, for example, lessons and bulletin board displays. Accu-Cut was founded in 1990 and has designed and markets a roller cutting machine which also produces paper cutouts in the form of letters and decorative shapes. Ellison currently sold over five hundred (500) different designs and Accu-Cut sold approximately two hundred twenty-five (225) designs including approximately one hundred ten (110) decorative designs. Ellison claimed trademark and copyright protection in forty-seven (47) various designs currently marketed by Accu-Cut. The designs in which Ellison claimed protection consisted of an acorn, apple, book, witch, woman, Cupid, lightning bolt, house, kite, George Washington, sun, four-leaf clover, shamrock, banana, boy, egg, football helmet, horse, Halloween cat, angel, award, dog bone, teddy bear, birthday cake, turkey, light bulb, leaf, ghost, umbrella, strawberry, school house, railroad car, cactus, football, happy face, school bus, raindrops, Halloween jack-o-lantern, space shuttle, tepee, sleigh, sailboat, megaphone, duck, Abe Lincoln, and girl. The court found little evidence that Ellison's long and exclusive use of the "no scissors" logo had created in the consumer's mind an impression that the logo was associated with Ellison within the meaning of the trademark laws, therefor the Court found Ellison had little probability of success on the merits relating to its "no scissors" logo claims. The Court enjoined Accu-Cut from any reference to Ellison, Ellison Educational Equipment, Ellison Letter Machine, or any other use of the Ellison name without an accompanying notation disclaiming any association of Ellison with Accu-Cut. Court found Ellison had little, if any, probability of success on the merits on its further trademark claims. As for Ellison's claims of copyright protection in the forty-seven (47) various shapes, the court found the designs were merely silhouettes of ordinary, common items which are generally readily identifiable by even young children. The Court found that the shapes in this case did not possess artistic or aesthetic features which were physically or conceptually different from their utilitarian function.