Sorry T-Mobile, Other Companies Can Use The Color Magenta
from the trademark-isn't-ownership dept
A while back T-Mobile received a trademark on the color magenta for use in selling mobile phone services in certain markets, but it seems to be taking the trademark a little more seriously than it should, even to the point of threatening the blog Engadget for having a magenta-colored logo. It also took mobile operator Telia to court in Denmark for its own use of a magenta logo, but missed out on a couple of important facts: Telia and T-Mobile don't compete in the same markets in Denmark and (more importantly) Telia's magenta is a different shade of Magenta. The court has not just tossed out the lawsuit, but has dumped the court costs and Telia's legal fees onto T-Mobile's bill. Hopefully that will teach them that trademark law shouldn't be abused.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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T-Mobile
JJ
http://www.fireme.to/udi
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Re: T-Mobile
It does make me wonder how long I'll be using their service though!
http://textrapolate.com/
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Really?
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Re: Really?
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Re: Really?
UPS BROWN - They claim that if the shade of brown can be copied - people will fall victim to fraud as well as robberies... There are a few more color copyrights... but these came to mind...
NYPD BLUE
FIRE ENGINE RED
UPS BROWN
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Hey!!
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Re: Hey!!
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Re: Hey!!
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Re: Re: Really?
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corona santiago
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If I want to make T-Mobile magenta lawn tractors, or open a cell phone company whose logo is John Deere green I can.
Also - color might be subjective, but you will see all products with T-Mobile magenta the same, regardless of whether you and I see it the same.
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Attacking the color???
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That's it, I'm trademarking the friggin moon, so anyone who looks up has to pay me.
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Re:
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Nothing wrong w/trademarking a color
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T-Mobile
By the way, there are a few trademarks limited to color, but those are almost impossible to secure and require compelling evidence that the color is intimately ingrained in the minds of ordinary consumers for the goods with which the color is used that consumer confusion is likely as to the source of the goods. Perhaps the best known is the one held by Owens-Corning for insulation that is colored pink. Like I said, these are quite rare and generally quite limited in scope.
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Astounding
That's just absurd...
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mike
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