Want to Adopt Chippendales' Cuff-n-Collars Look for Your Own Exotic Dance Troupe? Now You Can Without Fear of Repercussion.

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Despite the fact that Chippendales guys nearly always wear the, uh, dance troupe's signature bowtie, shirt cuffs, and stretchy black pants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit says the company can't trademark these uniforms. Chippendales has been trying to trademark the look for nearly 10 years!

New York-based Chippendales, which filed the original trademark application in 2000, failed to prove that the bow tie and cuffs costume was distinctive, the court said.

The court noted that the Chippendales' expert witness acknowledged that the outfit was "inspired" by the Playboy bunny suit, thus stripping the Chippendales' Cuffs & Collar of the distinctiveness needed to get a trademark.

The Playboy bunny suit was trademarked in 1964 and expired in 2004, the court said. That costume is shirt cuffs, corset, tie, bunny ears and bunny tail.