Whatto choose wordmark , color mark , black and white or complete color Trademark.
Atcompany360 we often come across variety of questions about Trademarks registration, generallypeople are confused between filing a logo or a colored logo or the logo as itis? What exactly is the difference between the colored logo and black and whitelogo. What to opt when your budget is tight and how you should decide the whetheryou need both.
Sadly,all these questions do not have so straight forward answers.
So,in order to finally decide we need to understand the scope of protection thatcolored or balack and white mark provide and how this seen in and around theTrademark itself.
Suppose,you have a brand that is a unique word, written in stylised manner but just anychosen color. So should you opt for black and white or colored logo.
Theanswer lies in the simple question. What exactly is giving a distinctive oridentifiable feature to the mark?
Isit the color, is the look of the mark or is it the complete representation.
Incase it is color, opt for colored trademark.
Incase it is the design recognisable with or without color, you may go for blackand white Trademark.
Incase the mark is unique because of both color and design, opt for both..
Now,let us explain this concept of distinctive or identifiable feature by way ofexamples and case laws.
Colorof Mc donalds logo the red and golden M is unique, so even though you writehoney burger or any other burger in this logo you are bound to get trademarkobjection.
Becauseit’s their color scheme that provide them a distinctive feature which is commonlyidentified by the general public.
Inthis case to have a colored logo protected is very essential.
Secondcase, take the example of surf detergent packaging star design. That stardesign is essentially a distinctive feature of the mark Surf, so it is indeedimportant to protect that design.
Now,lets take example of Nike which is a private limitedcompanywith swoosh symbol. The stylised tick mark is identifiable in its own capacityand no matter what color it is this symbol is associated with Nike, Hence, One online trademark registration applicationwill be suffice that can be black and white also.
Now,let us proceed to few case studies
Multi-coloredcandy packaging (Life Savers v. Curtiss Candy Co.)
Multi-coloredcandies
Thecourt in this case denied Life Saver protection of their striped colors, citingthat it was a "general practice of the trade" for candy manufacturersto sell their candy in packages with multi-colored backgrounds for theirassorted flavored discs, and labels with single colored background for theirpackages containing one flavor of candy discs." They concluded that themulti-colored background was in fact descriptive and served as a readyidentification of the flavor of the candy in the package. Here we can see thatcourt denied exclusive right over packaging as the color combination was anon-distinctive, common trade practice and is functional in nature.
Functionalmeans like color green is use to mark vegetarian food and red is used toidentify non-vegetarian food.
Nowlet us take an example where courts have awarded protection to color as distinctivefeature of the mark.
Weknow about the luxury brand Tiffany and Co. Which owns"robin's egg blue" for its boxes and bags, the courts dis recognisedtheir exclusive right over the color even though it’s a single color as theirpackaging is indeed recognised by general public for luxury bags by this color.The court observed and stated ”You canpaint your house that color, for example, without having a problem. Given thewide range of products Tiffany sells, and the uniqueness of their shade ofblue, they are protected from other jewelers who would use the same color forboxes or packaging. Otherwise, there would be brand confusion”.
Hence,we conclude that it is indeed a complicated issue as to whether to go for blackand white or colored trademark or shall you file both. As, it is dependent onthe single question what is making your mark distinctive, identifiable oradding and extra touch to your brand.
Therefore,it has been commonly observed that big corporates file for both be it colormark or black and white logo.
