Opinion ID: 807878
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A Brief History of Single-Color Marks

Text: Prior to the adoption of our modern statutory trademark scheme in the Lanham Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq., the status of single-color trademarks rested on uncertain ground. See generally In re Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 774 F.2d 1116, 1118–19 (Fed. Cir. 1985) (“Owens-Corning”). Although as early as 1906 the Supreme Court had expressed a Delphic and suitably ambiguous skepticism that single-color marks could be registered as trademarks, see A. Leschen & Sons Rope Co. v. Broderick & Bascom Rope Co., 201 U.S. 166, 171 (1906) (observing that “[w]hether mere color can constitute a valid trade-mark may admit of doubt”), other courts occasionally employed common law unfair competition “legal or equitable defense or defect . . . which might have been asserted if such mark had not been registered”). 12 principles to protect the use of color as a distinguishing product feature. See, e.g., Yellow Cab Transit Co. v. Louisville Taxicab & Transfer Co., 147 F.2d 407, 415 (6th Cir. 1945) (holding that the user of a mark was “entitled to protection in its long established use of the color yellow on its taxicabs . . . , inasmuch as it has acquired a good will by use of the yellow color scheme on taxicabs by virtue of appropriate application of the doctrine of secondary meaning”). Although courts did not go so far as to hold that single-color marks could merit trademark protection, the recognition by some courts that color standing alone can, in some circumstances, acquire secondary meaning was an important building block in the evolution of single-color marks. After the passage of the Lanham Act, which codified “in the broadest of terms” the “universe” of things eligible for trademark protection, Qualitex, 514 U.S. at 162, courts “gradually . . . rejected the dictum [of earlier cases] . . . to the effect that color alone is not subject to trademark [protection],” Owens-Corning, 774 F.2d at 1122, and owners of color-related marks began to enjoy a degree of enforcement success. See, e.g., Application of Hehr Mfg. Co., 279 F.2d 526, 528 (C.C.P.A. 1960) (holding that a square red label intended for use on automobile trailer windows was eligible for trademark registration); Artus Corp. v. Nordic Co., 512 F. Supp. 1184, 1190 (W.D. Pa. 1981) (protecting plaintiff’s arbitrary color scheme for metal spacers). Nevertheless, the issue of single-color mark registration lay largely dormant until 1985, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided Owens-Corning. Faced with the question of whether a fiberglass manufacturer could trademark the pink color of its residential insulation material, the Federal Circuit in Owens-Corning began by recounting the evolution of color as a product-source designator. In language that continues to hold force today, the Court observed that jurisprudence under the Lanham Act had “developed in accordance with the statutory 13 principle that if a mark is capable of being or becoming distinctive of [the] applicant’s goods in commerce, then it is capable of serving as a trademark.” Owens-Corning, 774 F.2d at 1120. Noting that “[Owens-Corning’s] use of the color ‘pink’ performs no non-trademark function, and is consistent with the commercial and public purposes of trademarks,” the Court concluded that the use “serves the classical trademark function of indicating the origin of the goods, and thereby protects the public.” Id. at 1123. On that basis, the Court held that Owens-Corning was “entitled to register its mark.” Id. at 1128.