Are Diamonds Forever? Tiffany & Co.’s Fight to Protect its Name

22 Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 81

In the Christmas classic Elf, a young boy reads from Santa’s
Wishlist: “Charlotte Denon wants a Tiffany engagement ring and for
her boyfriend to stop dragging his feet and commit already.” To a
viewer, hearing the words “Tiffany engagement ring” immediately
evokes a certain image—one that Tiffany & Co. has worked tirelessly
to create: delicate rings in radiant display cases, robin’s-egg-blue boxes
wrapped with white bows, and the unmistakable aura of luxury. This
image, and others like it, are subject to erasure under the inadequacies
of modern trademark law if the words used to suggest a brand’s
accoutrements also might be used to describe a certain type of product.