No trademark, but still hot under collar

The male erotic dancer company Chippendales stumbled on Friday when an appeals court ruled that it could not trademark the bow tie and shirt cuffs that its men wear.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a ruling that the US Patent and Trademark Office was correct in refusing to trademark the "cuffs and collar" costume.

Chippendales, which filed the original trademark application in 2000, failed to prove that the costume was distinctive, the court said.

The court noted that the Chippendales' expert witness acknowledged that the outfit was "inspired" by the Playboy bunny suit, thus stripping the Chippendales' cuffs and collar of the distinctiveness needed to get a trademark. -