Registration to Your Corporate Colors

Did you know that you can make your corporate colors a trademark and take them under legal protection? Registration of corporate colors was led by international companies; however, Turkish companies have recently started to be proactive in submitting applications for registering their corporate colors as well. For example, the yellow-navy blue colors, which are the inseparable duo of Fenerbahce Football Club, were registered by the Turkish Patent Institute upon the application submitted by Fenerbahce. A rapid increase was observed in the color trademark applications made by domestic companies to the Turkish Patent Institute (TPE) in 2019. The first color trademark application was made in Turkey in 2016. In the last thre

Did you know that you can make your corporate colors a trademark and take them under legal protection?

Registration of corporate colors was led by international companies; however, Turkish companies have recently started to be proactive in submitting applications for registering their corporate colors as well. For example, the yellow-navy blue colors, which are the inseparable duo of Fenerbahce Football Club, were registered by the Turkish Patent Institute upon the application submitted by Fenerbahce.

A rapid increase was observed in the color trademark applications made by domestic companies to the Turkish Patent Institute (TPE) in 2019. The first color trademark application was made in Turkey in 2016. In the last three years in color trademarking, 72 companies have applied to register their corporate colors.

Color Trademark applications registered by Turkish Patent Institute (TPE) increased by 65 percent in the first 10 months of 2019 compared to the previous year.

Number of color trademark applications made to TPE

YEAR NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS

2016 1

2017 18

2018 20

2019 33

Source: Turkish Patent Institute (TPE)

The founder of the Istanbul-based Markiz Patent, patent and trademark attorney Orhan Eriman, made the following comment regarding the color trademarking which experienced growth in recent years, "the companies which applied to the Turkish Patent Institute to receive Color Trademark, usually have a corporate structure and they are well-known companies in Turkey. We witness that organizations that distinguish themselves with their logos, slogans and colors make applications to legally protect the corporate color Trademark. The application process in color Trademarking should be handled meticulously, otherwise companies can get the rejection response from TPI. ”

According to the Turkish Patent Institute data, the process of registering the corporate color codes of Fenerbahce was started on 24 June 2018. The review and evaluation concluded positively on 8 March 2019. The yellow and navy blue colors of Fenerbahce were legally registered with the color Trademark codes of pantone 13-0858 tpx and pantone 19-3939 tpx.

The Yellow and Navy Blue of Fenerbahce

Color Trademark pantone 13-0858 tpx, pantone 19-3939 tpx

According to the result of the registration approved by the Turkish Patent Institute, Fenerbahce's yellow and navy blue colors will not be used by any company other than FENERBAHÇE SPOR ÜRÜNLERİ SANAYİ VE TİCARET ANONİM ŞİRKETİ (5106084).

The sectors where Fenerbahce's corporate color trademark registration is effective are:

24	Woven or non-woven fabrics. Home textile products: curtains, bedspreads, duvet covers, bedsheets, pillowcases, linens, blankets, duvets, towels. Fabric Flags, streamers, labels from textiles. Swaddle covers for babies. Sleeping bags for campers.
25	Except those which are made for protective purposes, all underwear-outerwear made of all kinds of materials, socks, scarves, shawls, bandanas, scarves, belts. Footwear: shoes, slippers, sandals. Headwear: hats, caps, beanies, berets, skullcaps.
41	Education and training services. Organizing symposiums, conferences, congresses and seminars, administrative services. Sports, culture and entertainment services (including ticketing services for culture and entertainment events such as cinema, sports events, theater, museum, concert). Services for making publications such as magazines, books, newspapers, etc. ready for printing, and delivering them to the reader (including the provision of services through global communication networks). Film, television and radio program production services. News reporter services, photo-reporter services. Photography services. Translation services.

Ready-made clothing company LC Waikiki Mağazacılık A.Ş. also joined among the local companies that registered their corporate colors. The Turkish Patent Institute has registered the colors of LC Waikiki to be valid in sectors 03, 18, 24, 25 and 35 with the decision it concluded on March 4, 2019.

LC Waikiki's Blue and Gray

Color trademark (pantone 2728 c, pantone p 1-1 c)

Kuveyt Turk's Green and Yellow

According to the data of the Turkish Patent Institute, Kuveyt Türk was one of the first companies in the financial sector to register its colors. The registration took place on March 4, 2019.

Color trademark (pantone 342 c, pantone 125 c)

Another participation bank, Albaraka Türk, was among the financial institutions that registered color trademarks.

Albaraka Turk's Red and Orange

Color Mark (pantone 186c pantone orange 021c)

International Brands who Registered Their Color Marks

The Barbie Pink (Pantone 219 C), for example, of famous toy manufacturer Mattel is a trademark registered on more than 100 categories. The blue color of jewelery company Tiffany & Co. is the same way a registered trademark since 1998. Particular Pantone number of the color is 1837, which is the year the company is established.

Holding trademark rights of a color is different than having the ownership of a color. Registering colors as trademarks is only effective upon competitors doing business in the same sector. To explain this better with an example, Toyota cannot file a law suit against Apple for its use of the same color because the two companies do not manufacture and sell competitive goods.

You can also take your corporate colors behind protection shield. This ensures legal protection for your corporate colors, so competitors in your sector may not use them.

Markiz Patent Ltd. provides professional consultancy services for registering corporate colors.

1. The Barbie Pink of toy company Mattel