'Color' is a trademark of Color Labs Inc.

9 points by rapcal 15y ago ↗ HN

This is the last one about Color. Just couldn't hold my tongue because this is funny. Look at the bottom of their home page (http://www.color.com) and you'll see that "'Color' is a trademark of Color Labs Inc.". Oh my... According to Princeton University's WordNet, something is trademarked when it's "labeled with proprietary (and legally registered) identification guaranteeing exclusive use". So beware -- you can't use the word "color" anymore. I thought nothing would get worse than Facebook going after everyone with a face or a book in their brand/website names. But here it is, folks :)

8 comments

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personalcompute 15y ago ↗

Confirmed - http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/jumpto?f=doc&state=4005:9gkoc...

mrlase 15y ago ↗

Does that mean its been approved or just filed?

rapcal 15y ago ↗

No idea. They use it on the site as already granted.

allanchao 15y ago ↗

That means it's been approved

personalcompute 15y ago ↗

Sorry, apparently links there can expire, ha? Terrible site.

permalink: http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=85222392

mark-r 15y ago ↗

How is that possible? I thought that a generic word in common use couldn't be trademarked at all. Is the system really that broken?

pbhjpbhj 15y ago ↗

Trademarks are indications of origin. A word in common usage can still indicate origin, it can still be distinctive enough.

For example consider the word "wooden". If I'm selling furniture it's not distinctive. If that's my trademark for computer software then it's distinctive.

Tradmarks are not the same as Registered Trademarks either. Anything you use to indicate origin can be a trademark.

A classification system ("Nice", http://www.wipo.int/classifications/nivilo/nice/index.htm?la...) is used internationally to specify the locus of registered trademarks. Thus I can register the Trademark "wooden" against software (class 9, 42) and you can register the trademark "wooden" for your legal advice centre (class 45). Neither registration stops me using the words unless in a context relevant to the mark where the origin of goods/services might be put in doubt.

[Note this is a primarily European view and doesn't account for all differences in TM law in Europe.]

Further reading: http://www.uspto.gov/faq/trademarks.jsp http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/ctm/index.en.do http://www.wipo.int/trademarks/en/

allanchao 15y ago ↗

I'm pretty sure trademark protection only affects the domain that it's trademarked in. On the link below by personalcompute, it's the "Goods and Services". So that means you can still use the word color in normal use, but I'd be cautious of saying "there's a lot of color in that facebook photo".