Leave it to the U.S. Supreme Court to create an elegant intercession between Frank Sinatra’s favorite whiskey and one of the world’s most coveted handbags.
It started when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Hermès, the maker of the Birkin handbag, which was introduced in 1984. The Birkin is part tote bag, part purse, part cultural talisman. A new example ranges in price from over $10,000 up to many multiples of that—if you are allowed onto the purchasers’ list as a suitable candidate for ownership and are willing potentially to wait several years for delivery. Hermès skillfully bracketed the fame of its bag with twin registrations with the United States Patent and Trademark Office—one for the word mark BIRKIN and the other for the shape of the bag (as trade dress).
