True colours: The importance of getting colour right

Since the recognition of colour as a registrable trade mark in 1955, there have been a limited number of Australian cases dealing with the subject. For many brand owners, colour is important as consumers often associate colour with a particular product or service. However, to date, few brands have been able to successfully obtain trade mark registrations (and hence a monopoly) over a particular colour. The inability of BP to register the colour 'green' on its own as a trade mark for its service stations or for Telstra to obtain a trade mark registration for the colour known as 'knockout yellow' for its Yellow Pages, demonstrates the high bar that brand owners face with colour marks.