and pink insulation foam
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/774...
T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
111–120 of 158 posts
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#112This might seem like overreach, but is just a natural consequence of trademark laws. If you can trademark a name as simple as "apple", and if you can trademark an icon as simple as 4 squares of identical size and shape next to another (windows/microsoft), then it becomes quite obvious that colors are treated the same. In the end, trademark laws as a whole will have to be reformed, but this is just a natural consequen…
You have a gross misunderstanding of how it works. You can't trademark the entire word "apple" you can trademark the the word apple within a set of industries. You can't start a computer/isp/copy machine company called apple, but you definitely can start a woodworking shop called apple.
And Telekom trademarked the color magenta for the industries they're active in - such as mobile phone insurance or cybersecurity insurance, which happens to be the same industry Lemonade is active in.
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#113[deleted]
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#114This is worrisome, because they claiming a broad swath of the colorspace around magenta. It's hard enough to get the exact right color, without worrying that huge players will assert copyright.
FWIW I found this website useful when deciding on complementary colors; you can see how other companies have solved combinations.
... and here's what they have for T-mobile (no listing for lemonade)
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#115For some background, the reason these laws exist is to protect consumers from counterfeiters. If someone produces jewelry in a clean baby blue box, customers will start to expect that same level of quality, etc. They will be ripped off if someone else uses the same packaging but a low quality product. However many things have to be considered from the consumers perspective. Is there likely confusion? Is one of the ma…
That would make sense if T-Mobile actually provided good service.
Do they not? I certainly haven't had any problems with them, but I switched to them from Sprint, so my tolerance for sucktitude is a lot higher than average.
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Consider this scenario: Company A has a trademark. Company B creates its own product (perhaps trademarked as well) which is somewhat similar to Company A's trademark but in a sufficiently different product space that a lawsuit by Company A would seem potentially frivolous. Company B then grows its business over several years, starts moving into adjacent product categories, and ends up with a product that now could ge…
See for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer
In short, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer three times over obviously frivolous issues, extracted three settlements, and then when Apple actually did get into the business of selling music, sued them again...and lost.
I'm not convinced that their behavior was either justified or effective.
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#117This is incredibly ridiculous. If a color can be owned by a trademark, what’s to prevent a particular audio frequency being trademarked, or a particular temperature, or a particular luminosity? What if my construction company trademarked “8 meters” — could I go and sue everyone who builds 8-meter-high buildings from then on? Good on Lemonade for fighting it. But something is really wrong with the world when claims li…
Is it too hard to use another color?
The reason for trademarks is simple: branding. Since there are a near infinite number of colors available (for example: #e21088 should be different enough to not violate trademark), different groups can claim colors of their own (if they wish to trademark a certain color).
Catch-phrases, simple words ("Taste the Rainbow" or "They're more than Good, they're Great"), or even names (Mario) can be trademarked.
Furthermore, Trademarks only apply within the industry. I can use FedEx-brown so long as I don't compete against FedEx.
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#118This is incredibly ridiculous. If a color can be owned by a trademark, what’s to prevent a particular audio frequency being trademarked, or a particular temperature, or a particular luminosity? What if my construction company trademarked “8 meters” — could I go and sue everyone who builds 8-meter-high buildings from then on? Good on Lemonade for fighting it. But something is really wrong with the world when claims li…
Can I trademark #ffffff? And then sue everyone who uses white paper?
A trademark cannot serve a utilitarian function. People write on white paper, and therefore white cannot be trademarked.
EDIT: If you wanted an "ivory" white to build a brand around... that would be allowed as a trademark of course. But it would consistently be that "ivory white" color that you picked as a trademark, and nothing else.
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there is a thing called colormark, But as far as I know, color marks apply to companies from the same industry. T-Mobile and Lemonade are not in the same industry therefore, Lemonade should be able to use Magenta.
They both sell insurance, so one could argue they are in the same industry. Unless we're going to sub-divide insurance between Home/Car and Phone.
T-Mobile sells insurance on devices they also sell. I have never seen a dedicated insurance company selling insurance specifically on mobile devices. The likelihood of consumer confusion is tiny.
Re: T-Mobile demand Lemonade to stop using the color magenta
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Unfortunately they have to do this if they don’t want to lose the trademark. That's what the lawyers say, anyway. Thousands of companies manage to do business for decades without egregious trademark actions.
Consider this scenario: Company A has a trademark. Company B creates its own product (perhaps trademarked as well) which is somewhat similar to Company A's trademark but in a sufficiently different product space that a lawsuit by Company A would seem potentially frivolous. Company B then grows its business over several years, starts moving into adjacent product categories, and ends up with a product that now could ge…
Is there any record of this happening over something as frivolous as a trademarked color?
I hear a lot that bad things could happen if companies don't bully people over trademarks, but I also see lots of companies being good neighbors and doing fine regardless. Are all of these companies both cursed with incompetent lawyers and blessed with uncanny luck?