There was a recent article in the Hustle about the new trend of corporations trying to enforce intellectual property rights for specific colors.
A trademark’s purpose is to distinguish a product or service from competitors. Everyone can agree that a logo or a brand name should be trademarked. However, things get a little more thorny when we get to more abstract ideas such as colors.
Many familiar companies have trademarked colors. One example is the famous Tiffany blue.
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Other examples are the specific shade of purple used by Prince that was registered in 2020.
“Usually a company does this when its business model relies, to some extent, on a particular color,” says Jeffrey Samuels, a professor emeritus at The University of Akron School of Law. “It will trademark a color to prevent other companies from using it.”
An important distinction, adds Samuels, is that a company with a color trademark only “owns” the color in connection to particular goods or services.
To successfully secure a trademark for a color, a firm must prove that a single color:
- Achieves “secondary meaning” (distinguishes a product from competitors and identifies the company as the definitive source of the product)
- Doesn’t put competitors at a disadvantage by affecting cost or quality
- Doesn’t serve a functional purpose
Often times clients have private label color schemes or packaging that is too similar to established brands. For example, anyone can source and buy a screwdriver set from Alibaba.
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