Prince's company is registering the color purple as a trademark
When the singer Prince died in 2016, purple was displayed on all television screens. It was his favourite colour, and the success of "Purple Rain" had strengthened the link between the singer and this colour. At the beginning of October 2018, his company, Paisley Park Enterprises, filed a new trademark application with the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office). This time, the company in charge of the singer's estate is trying to claim ownership of the use of the "purple color" in films and live and recorded music.
The registration of a colour as a trademark
It is perfectly permissible to trademark a colorbut this possibility is subject to certain conditions. Article L711-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code thus provides that "may in particular constitute [a trademark] the arrangements, combinations or shades of colours". In general, companies register combinations of colours rather than an isolated colour.
In order to register a given color, it is necessary to prove that it has acquired distinctive character. It must therefore be established that the public makes the link between the colour and the business that wishes to appropriate it. This is the case of the Pantone yellow 109 Cwhich is the color of the Post Office. The main difficulty lies in the fact that a colour is generally perceived by the public as a decorative element, and not as an indication of the origin of goods or services.
In addition, the colour must not be generic for the goods or services in question. Thus, it is not possible to appropriate a green colour for ecological or natural products. This colour must remain available to all companies.
The colour violet: a hue appreciated by applicants
Unlike green, purple is not a colour that consumers automatically associate with a type of product or service. It will therefore be easier to prove its distinctiveness. In addition, there is a wide variety of purple hues (from lilac to purple), making it possible to create a colour specific to a given trademark. In fact, Pantone has chosen "Ultra-Violet" as the colour of the year 2018.
In the United States, however, Saint-Gobain has had its application for a purple tint rejected. In 2007, the judges held that "the color purple is considered functional for coatings," where color serves a myriad of functions, including color coding.
Conversely, Milka obtained the registration of the colour "lilac" as a trademark. Indeed, this light purple is not a functional colour for chocolates and biscuits. This specific colour was then incorporated into the Pantone colour catalogue.
No monopoly for Prince on the color purple.
When you register a trademark, you don't get an absolute monopoly. On the contrary, the trademark is protected only for certain goods and services. Third parties may continue to use the colour purple for other products. These must be different from those present in the trademark.
Thus, by depositing the colour "Purple" in front of the USPTO, Prince's company wants above all to prevent another celebrity from appropriating this colour. A musician who started dressing in purple on stage or using purple on his album cover would be guilty of counterfeiting. It is interesting to note that this deposit comes shortly after Pantone created a special hue in memory of the singer, which is called Love Symbol #2. In order to substantiate distinctiveness of this hue, Paisley Park Enterprises said that purple has been Prince's main colour since 1984.
It is not yet known whether or not the USPTO will proceed with registration of the mark. But it seems to us that it is distinctive.
For more information on trademark registrations in the United States, our guide is at your disposal..