How Can I Protect the Look and Feel of My Website?
Let’s assume that your website has a particularly effective visual and interactive elements that you would not want another website to copy. How can you protect this “look and feel”?
Look and feel falls in the category of trade dress, i.e., visual appearance that signifies the source of a product or service. You may be able to obtain a federal trademark registration for the non-functional elements of the website’s look and feel and bring suit against infringers based on that registration. (Please see Trademark Protection in One Easy Lesson.)
Look and feel is not eligible for copyright protection because look and feel is not a work of authorship. (Please see Copyright Protection in One Easy Lesson.)
Dana H. Shultz, Attorney at Law +1 510 547-0545 dana [at] danashultz [dot] com
This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact a lawyer directly.
Dana Shultz is a business-savvy lawyer located in Northern California's San Francisco Bay Area (in the East Bay, near Oakland) who has in-depth knowledge of law, business, technology, and the needs of startup and early-stage companies.