The law surrounding trade dress and sneakers is complex, yet registering trade dress is one of the most important steps brands can take to protect their designs from counterfeits and fakes. Intellectual property law aims to protect the intangible assets of a business, including its inventions, artistic works, designs and other ideas.  In the United States, trade dress can be registered (and thereby protected) by filing a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Once the application is granted, the design is federally protected as long as it is active and being used commercially.

To qualify for trade dress protection under U.S. law, a design is viewed under a variety of factors, such as distinctiveness, nonfunctional, used in interstate commerce, and must develop secondary meaning.  This means that the design must be recognizable as a source of the product, rather than serving a functional purpose. Additionally, the design cannot be so similar to a competitor's design that it creates consumer confusion. The design must also be used in interstate commerce (i.e., sold in more than one state) to qualify. Finally, a design must develop secondary meaning. Secondary meaning is achieved when consumers have come to associate a particular trade dress with a specific source or brand. This occurs when a design has been used for a significant period of time, and the public has come to recognize it as identifying a particular source or brand.