What is a Colour Trademark and How it is Good for Brand Protection?

 

You should apply for trademark registration online to prevent others from copying your brand. Find out what a colour trademark is and why you ought to think about filing one.

 

The colour of a brand is different from a colour trademark. Even a TM or ® symbol on a brand's image does not indicate that the colour or colours are legally protected. McDonald's and Starbucks' TM and ® marks serve as proof that they own the associated term, symbol, or combination thereof.

 

The 2017 Trademark Rules state that by introducing provisions for colour marks in the new rules, the new regime is established. A colour mark is a non-traditional trademark that identifies the products or services offered by a business using one or more colours.

 

 

What Is a Colour Trademark?

 

A sign or emblem that an organisation uses to symbolise its brand is known as a colour trademark. It is additionally referred to as a business identity mark. 

 

In this instance, the brand is the colour. Colour usage is protected by trademarks in a particular market segment. 

 

You may recognise Cadbury chocolate candies by their purple packaging, and Tiffany & Co. jewellery by their turquoise jewellery boxes. Vanish represents the colour pink. 

 

They have the chance to show through marketing how their colour trademark can set their products apart from those made by other manufacturers.

 

According to Section 10 of the Act, a trademark may only consist of a single colour or a group of colours. To identify the source of products or services, the law authorises the registration of a single colour or a group of colours as a trademark.

 

 

What Qualities Define a Color Trademark?

 

• A "mark" is defined as a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numerical, the shape of goods, packaging, or any combination of colours in The Trade Marks Act of 1999.
• It is legal to apply for trademark registration online for a single colour or a group of colours.
• Let's say the applicant chooses to request trademark protection for a certain shade. In that situation, he will have to show proof that the claimed colour combination or colour exclusively identifies the applicant's goods or is associated with them.
• Therefore, it will be advantageous if the applicant can show that the particular colour is connected to him, his goods, or services.

 

 

Why Brand Colors Are Important?

 

Colours can alter how consumers see a product. To provoke particular psychological reactions, a colour may be symbolically or figuratively linked to objects. 

 

For instance, blue can be used for frozen, chilled food whereas green is usually used for healthy or organic products. 

 

One could claim that some colour schemes or aesthetic elements go well together. 

 

Given their close relationship, green and yellow appear to complement one another effectively. 

 

Vibrant and enticing colours may have specific visual effects. Some colours immediately draw the viewer's attention. Some can make the text easier to read.

 

Some products employ particular colours to stand out from the competitors. These products might include everything from consumer goods to industrial equipment. 

 

These colours are sometimes used to identify packaging; for example, Kodak packages its film in a box that is black and yellow while Fuji packages it in a green box. 

 

Additionally, products may come in recognisable packaging designs. For instance, packaging for laundry detergents frequently uses the hues blue, orange, and yellow. 

 

The package and label may be extremely different even though the colours may be the same. 

 

Sometimes consumers can become confused by similar colours, label designs, and packaging shapes. If the packaging is too similar, a customer could get confused and mistakenly purchase the wrong item.

 

 

Can a Color Be Trademarked?

 

Simply put, the answer is that you can register a colour. However, colour can only be registered under very specific situations. 

 

Legal precedent indicates that a colour that has a "functional" purpose, whether practical or artistic, may not be protected as a trademark. 

 

If a colour is required for the function, value, or cost of a product, it is considered utilitarian. It is atheistically functional if the exclusive usage of colour greatly disadvantages a competitor. 

 

The list of factors below can be used to evaluate a colour's usefulness:

 

• whether the style (or colour) has a useful function;
• if several patterns (or colours) are offered;
• when advertisements emphasise the functional advantages of the design (or colour); and
• whether the chosen design was made possible by a simple or inexpensive manufacturing method (or colour).

 

 

Can You Register aColor's Name As A Trademark?

 

Sometimes. "Brown" is registered as a trademark with UPS. 

 

However, some apps run into problems. Syracuse University submitted a trademark application for the term in 2006 to use it on apparel connected to its athletics division. 

 

The school's athletic teams are referred to as "Orange."

 

Why Not Register a Trademark for a Single Color instead of a Combination of Colors?

 

Since the adoption of the Trademark Rules in 1999, single colours or colour combinations can be registered as trademarks in India. 

 

However, the applicant should be aware that it is very challenging to register a single colour.

 

It is challenging to distinguish a single colour due to a lack of distinctiveness. 

 

The applicant will have to offer evidence of the colour's relationship to the good or service. The applicant must specify the distinctiveness of a colour combination at the time of application.

 

 

What are types of Color trademarks?

 

The several kinds of colour trademarks can be summed up as follows:

 

 

• Single Colour Trademark 

On average, consumers may have trouble identifying the country of origin of products and services based only on the colour of the item or the packaging.

 

 

• Color Combination Trademark

 

They can be used to identify products and services from a certain source; therefore, they must be useful to the consumer in identifying a trade source. 

 

Making the colour trademark distinctive is not a difficult effort, given the variety of colours that may be included in it. 

 

The challenge is to put together a combination that serves as a sign of the products and services that certain business offers. 

 

This is due to the need that, when applying for registration of a colour trademark, a description of how the specific colour combination reflects or aids customers in differentiating the products of that company from others provided.