T-Mobile Owns Magenta?
We know that colour is a powerful tool in branding, but can a company own a colour as widespread and ubiquitous as Magenta? According to Deutsche Telekom (DT), the owners of T-Mobile, yes, they can.
Colourlovers has the story (although they’re not really a news org) about how T-Mobile, as part of their trademark application, included the colour magenta. Now yes, it only pertains to the communication sector, but still, Magenta? Pretty vague, at least throw in some formula to try and dupe the courts.
Of course this reminds us of Tiffany who have taken it one step further registered their famous blue-green robin egg colour as a trademark. They also worked with Pantone to ensure that no one else is allowed to use PMS 1837 (named for the year of Tiffany & Co.’s founding)
Here’s a New York Times article from a few years back about this very topic — trademark colours, logos, branding, etc.
I suppose the next natural step for companies is to hold trademarks on their spokespeople. Do you think T-Mobile owns the ‘intellectual property’ rights to Catherine Zeta-Jones? Talk about Brand Value.
I wonder who will claim ownership of the colour black?
