Walk through any shopping center, watch a delivery truck roll down your street, or simply glance at the products in your home, and you’ll encounter dozens of trademarked colors without realizing it. That specific shade of brown on the UPS truck, the robin’s egg blue of a Tiffany box, the bright magenta of T-Mobile’s branding. These aren’t just design choices. They’re legally protected intellectual property that companies have fought to secure and defend in federal courts.
Most people understand that logos and business names can be trademarked, but fewer realize that colors themselves can receive the same legal protection. When a company successfully trademarks a color, they gain exclusive rights to use that specific shade in their industry, preventing competitors from adopting similar hues that might confuse consumers or dilute their brand recognition.
Understanding how color trademarks work can help you make smarter branding decisions for your own business and avoid costly legal disputes down the road.
Understanding Color Trademarks: The Legal Framework
Color trademarks represent a unique form of intellectual property protection that goes beyond traditional logos and names. For a color to qualify for trademark protection, it must meet one critical requirement: distinctiveness. The color must have acquired what lawyers call “secondary meaning” in the marketplace, where consumers automatically associate that specific color with a particular brand when they see it used in that industry.
Functional colors cannot receive trademark protection. For example, John Deere cannot trademark the color green alone for agricultural equipment because green serves a functional purpose (helping machinery blend with grass and crops). However, John Deere successfully trademarked their specific combination of green and yellow because that pairing serves purely as brand identification.
The legal foundation for color trademarks was established in Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., where the Supreme Court ruled that color could function as a trademark when it achieved sufficient distinctiveness. This 1995 decision opened the door for companies to protect their signature colors as valuable business assets, but the first successful color trademark actually occurred over a decade earlier with Owens-Corning’s pink insulation in 1984.
The Registration Process
The trademark application process for colors follows these basic steps:
- Comprehensive search of existing color trademarks in your industry
- Application filing with extensive evidence of distinctiveness
- USPTO examination (typically 8-12 months)
- Publication period for potential oppositions
- Registration if no successful challenges occur
Companies must provide substantial evidence including consumer surveys, advertising expenditures, media coverage, sales data, and customer testimonials proving their color has acquired secondary meaning.
The Business Strategy Behind Color Protection
Companies invest in color trademarks because colors trigger immediate emotional and psychological responses in consumers. Research shows that people make subconscious judgments about products within 90 seconds of initial viewing, and color accounts for 62-90% of that assessment. When you control a specific color in your industry, you control a powerful tool for instant brand recognition.
Color trademarks provide several competitive advantages. They create barriers to entry for new competitors, who must develop alternative color schemes that won’t confuse consumers. They also increase brand recall, with studies showing that signature colors can increase brand recognition by up to 80%. Unlike patents that expire after 20 years, trademark protection can last indefinitely with proper maintenance, making color trademarks particularly valuable for long-term brand strategies.
However, developing a protectable color trademark requires significant upfront investment in consistent marketing and branding to prove the color has acquired secondary meaning in the marketplace.
Ten Iconic Color Trademarks That Shape Our World
These examples demonstrate how powerful color branding becomes when properly executed and legally protected.
Pioneer Colors
Owens-Corning Pink: As the first company to successfully trademark a color in 1984, Owens-Corning set the legal precedent for all future applications. Their “Think Pink” campaign cemented the association between pink insulation and their brand, and they’ve successfully defended against international competitors. (Read more in this full article on Owens-Corning Pink.)
Tiffany Blue: Used since 1845 and trademarked in 1998, this robin’s egg blue (Pantone 1837) instantly signals luxury and special occasions to consumers worldwide. (You can read more on the Tiffany Blue trademark.)
Service Industry Colors
UPS Brown: Trademarked in 1998 though used since 1916, this Pullman Brown color has become synonymous with reliable delivery service across America. (Read more in our full piece on UPS Brown.)
T-Mobile Magenta: This vibrant Process Magenta has been successfully defended in multiple federal court cases, including a notable victory against AT&T. (You can read more in our full piece on T-Mobile magenta.)
Consumer Product Colors
Barbie Pink: Mattel’s Pantone 219C extends across more than 100 product categories, from the iconic doll to bubble bath bottles and accessories.
3M Canary Yellow: While Post-it notes now come in many colors, the original canary yellow remains most recognizable and covers various 3M stationery products.
Cadbury Purple: Pantone 2685C has faced significant legal challenges since 1995, including battles with Nestle, highlighting the difficulty of maintaining color trademark protection. (You can learn more in our full article on Cadbury Purple.)
Retail and Industrial Colors
Target Red: This bright red applies specifically to retail services, preventing competing retailers from using similar shades while allowing other industries to use red freely. (Read more in our full piece on Target Red.)
John Deere Green and Yellow: This color combination works where single green protection failed, since the pairing serves purely as brand identification rather than functional purposes.
Fiskars Orange: Used on scissors since 1967 and trademarked in Finland (2003) and the US (2007), this pumpkin-orange creates instant recognition in the tool industry.
Legal Challenges and Enforcement
Color trademark disputes center on likelihood of consumer confusion. Courts examine color similarity, product relatedness, trademark strength, evidence of actual confusion, and the defendant’s intent when adopting their color scheme.
Common enforcement challenges include proving that slight color variations still cause confusion, distinguishing between functional and non-functional color uses, and maintaining protection across international markets where separate applications are required.
Companies must actively monitor for unauthorized use and take prompt legal action to maintain their rights. Trademark protection can be lost through abandonment if colors aren’t used consistently or infringement isn’t properly policed.
Should Your Business Consider a Color Trademark?
Color trademarks work best for companies that can consistently use a distinctive color across all branding materials for extended periods. Industries where color protection provides the most value include retail, consumer products, professional services, and any business where visual recognition drives purchase decisions.
Before pursuing color trademark protection, conduct a thorough search to ensure your chosen color isn’t already protected by competitors. If you’re interested in exploring the possibility of trademarking a color for your brand, read more in our full explanation on trademarking a color.
Alternative protection strategies include design patents for ornamental color combinations, trade dress protection for overall product appearance, and copyright protection for specific color arrangements in creative works.
Protecting Your Brand’s Visual Identity
Your brand’s colors are valuable business assets that influence consumer behavior and create competitive advantages. Every day without protection leaves your brand vulnerable to competitor imitation and marketplace confusion.
As an experienced trademark attorney who has filed over 6,000 trademark applications, I can help determine whether color protection makes sense for your business. The evaluation involves analyzing your current color usage, assessing market conditions, and developing a protection strategy for your long-term goals.
Contact me today to schedule a consultation about protecting your brand’s visual identity and developing a complete intellectual property strategy.
