Prince's company is registering the color purple as a trademark

  When singer Prince died in 2016, purple was all over the television screens. It was his favorite color, and the success of "Purple Rain" had strengthened the bond between the singer and this shade. At the beginning of October 2018, his company Paisley Park Enterprises, therefore, filed a new trademark application with the USPTO (United States 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 "color purple" in movies and live and recorded music.  

The registration of a colour as a trademark

It is perfectly permissible to trademark a colorHowever, this possibility is subject to certain conditions. Article L711-1 of the Intellectual Property Code provides that "the arrangements, combinations or shades of colours may constitute [a trademark]". In general, companies register combinations of colors rather than an isolated color. In order to register a particular color, it must be proven that it has acquired a distinctive character. It must therefore be established that the public makes the connection between the colour and the company that wishes to appropriate it. This is the case with the Pantone yellow 109 Cwhich is the colour of the Post Office. The main difficulty is that a colour is generally perceived by the public as a decorative element, not as an indication of the origin of products or services. Moreover, the colour must not be generic for the products or services concerned. Thus, it is not possible to appropriate a green colour for ecological or natural products. This colour must remain available to all businesses.  

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 shades (from lilac to purple), which can be used to create a specific colour for a given brand. In fact, Pantone has chosen the shade "Ultra-Violet" as the color of the year 2018. In the United States, however, Saint-Gobain had its application for a purple shade rejected. In 2007, the judges held that "the color purple was considered functional for coatings. "In this field, color serves a myriad of functions, including color coding. Conversely, Milka obtained registration of the color "lilac" as a trademark. Indeed, this light purple is not a functional colour for chocolates and biscuits. This specific shade was then integrated 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 in the trademark. Thus, by registering the color "Purple" before the USPTO, Prince's company wants to avoid that another celebrity appropriates this color. A musician who would start dressing in purple on stage or using purple on his album cover would be guilty of infringement. It is interesting to note that this filing comes shortly after Pantone created a special shade in memory of the singer called Love Symbol #2. In order to substantiate distinctiveness of this hue, Paisley Park Enterprises said that purple has been Prince's primary color since 1984. Whether or not the USPTO will proceed with registration of the mark is still unknown. But it seems to us that it is distinctive. To learn more about the trademark registrations in the United States, our guide is at your disposal..