Using colours to promote a company’s products is not a new concept, and colour is often central to a product’s branding. But to what extent can businesses protect the colours of their products through trade marks?

A trade mark is a trader’s badge of quality for its product or service, and a registered trade mark is a powerful legal right for its owner, who can prevent similar marks being used for similar goods. In some circumstances, possession of a trade mark can stop the use of a similar mark on dissimilar goods if the mark has a special reputation.

On 9 November the European Court of Justice (‘ECJ’) delivered its long awaited judgments in <I>The British Horseracing Board and Others v William Hill Organization Ltd </I>(Case C-203/02),<I> Fixtures Marketing Ltd v Oy Veikkaus AB </I>(Case C-46/02), <I>Fixtures Marketing Ltd v Organismos Prognostikon Agonon Podosfairou AE </I>(Case C-444/02) and <I>Fixtures Marketing Ltd v Svenska Spel AB </I>(Case C-338/02).