If you have a logo that you want to protect as a trademark, you need to think about colors. FedEx recently made a change to how its famous logo is displayed, so let’s learn from their example.
I’ve written from time to time about how color can function as a trademark – meaning, something that uniquely identifies your brand. See, for example, this post about the Rawlings Gold Glove and this one about Christian Louboutin shoes. Let’s review. A color act as a trademark as long as it:
- Distinguishes the business’s goods.
- Identifies that business of the source of those goods.
- Is not essential to the product’s use or purpose (meaning it’s not functional.)
- Does not affect cost or quality.
- Does not put competitors at a significant non-reputation-related disadvantage.
Think of one of the most famous color trademarks: Tiffany blue. That shade of blue on a jewelry box is distinctive and it identifies the product as one that came from Tiffany. It’s not functional…they could use any color they like. The color itself doesn’t affect the cost or quality of the goods (other than the value conveyed by the brand.) And it doesn’t disadvantage its competitors, because they can use any other color in their packaging.
Now, imagine you make and sell orange juice. In that case, you can’t claim exclusive rights on the color orange in your logo. Orange is not distinctive for orange juice. It doesn’t identify your product. It’s highly functional – how else would you let people know what’s in the box? And your competitors would be disadvantaged if they couldn’t use that color. That doesn’t mean you can’t use the color orange in your logo. It just means that you can’t prevent your competitors from using the same color on their logos.
FedEx recently announced that it will be using the purple and orange color scheme on all of its logos going forward. While those are the most recognizable colors associated with FedEx, the color scheme was previously not used in connection with FedEx Corp., Services, Office, Ground, and Freight. Now it will be. Note that FedEx has a U.S. trademark registration for its logo in purple and orange.
Perhaps FedEx made this move to consolidate their branding in response to the success of UPS’ “brown” campaign. In any event, it’s a smart move. The more consistent you are with how your logo is used and displayed, the stronger your brand identification will be.
So whether you’re looking to register your logo as a trademark, or just deciding how best to use it in your marketing and sales efforts, take a cue from FedEx and be as consistent as you can with your color scheme.
