David Fink and Whitney Tolar published "We Got the Beet: Trademark Claims and Puns" in the January 2020 edition of Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal. The following is an excerpt:
In LTTB LLC v. Redbubble, Inc., plaintiff LTTB, an online apparel company, contended its success was "largely due to public fascination with its Lettuce Turnip the Beet trademark," and alleged that defendant Redbubble's sale of products featuring the phrase "Lettuce Turnip the Beet" infringed its mark. Redbubble, an online marketplace selling products made by independent artists, argued that LTTB was not entitled to preclude others from using the "Lettuce Turnip the Beet" pun absent any evidence of source confusion. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued its decision granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Redbubble, finding that LTTB did not have an exclusive right to sell products displaying the pun "Lettuce Turnip the Beet," and that LTTB therefore did not have a viable trademark infringement claim.
The court's decision turned on its application of the "aesthetic functionality doctrine," a controversial trademark law principle unevenly applied by federal courts.