Finding that use of a “puck shaped object” predictably and naturally flows from ideas about hockey and is thus not protected by copyright law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held last Friday that Fanatics didn’t infringe on a hockey puck-shaped cavity memorabilia product that is “filled with melted rink ice from noteworthy hockey games” and called “Slice of the Ice.”

As summarized in an opinion authored by Judge David J. Porter, William Grondin has designed several versions of the Slice of the Ice. The sculpture resembles the Stanley Cup trophy and contains water that is, in fact, melted rink ice from noteworthy NHL games, usually Stanley Cup games. Grondin negotiated licenses with the NHL to obtain the ice and later sold his sculptures to NHL teams which in turn sold them to fans.