What does it mean when a company trademarks a color?
While brushing my teeth and absentmindedly reading the back of my bottle of Listerine, I noticed this: “The bottle design and purple color of this product are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson”.
A trademarked color? Wtf? Does this mean that the company is claiming ownership of a very specific shade of purple, or does it only apply to colors of mouthwash so that others can’t mimic the product?
I’ve heard of Cadbury claiming deep purple, Tiffany blue, etc…
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“The color of an item can also function as a trademark. The Supreme Court held in the 1995 case of Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., 115 S.Ct. 1300 (1995) that the green-gold color of a dry cleaning press pad can function as a trademark. Before this decision, the argument was often made that color alone could not be considered a trademark, since granting trademark status to colors would soon lead to the depletion of the number of colors available for an object. The Court in Qualitex rejected arguments based on this depletion theory, reasoning that alternative colors would usually be available for competitors. In those cases where alternative colors were not available, courts could deny trademark protection in those circumstances where color depletion may actually occur.
In order for a color to be considered a trademark, the owner must show that secondary meaning has been developed for the color. In addition, a color cannot be a trademark if the color is functional in nature.”
Bit Law
It means, for them, the future’s bright…the furture’s oran…....
It means the color is part of the packaging design for the product that helps identify the product and separate it from its competitors. For instance, Kodak boxes were always in an unusual brown-mustard yellow. If Joe Blow Film Company started selling film in boxes the same color as Kodak, it would be infringing on the Kodak trademark because it would confuse consumers..
Trademark is something that separates a product or business from its competitors. It is not a copyright or a patent.
It means that exact shade of purple cannot be used for another mouthwash product. But another company could use a different shade of purple, or the same shade of purple can be used for other products.
UPS has done it, and I think Fed-Ex too.
@XOIIO Yeah, I saw something about a lawyer getting sued by UPS for using “their” brown in his business logo…
So apparently, the color trademark does go beyond the product? I would understand if it were another transport company…
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