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Poland: no trademark protection over single colour

Poland
05/11/2010
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In a judgment handed down on 21 October 2010, the Polish Supreme Court ruled that trademark protection cannot be used to monopolise individual colours; the spectrum is limited and it would not be in line with public interest or expectation to grant exclusivity over a particular colour.

Combinations of colours are commonly recognised by domestic and international courts as marks that can be distinctive in relation to goods or services. However, the Supreme Court ruled that trademark rights are only infringed when the proportion of colours and the manner in which those colours have been used cause the risk of confusion with the registered combination of colours.

The case concerned a claim by BP that its characteristic green and yellow colours was being used by another petrol station owner in its furnishings and decoration.

The Supreme Court ruling upheld BP’s rights over the registered colour combination but did not prohibit the other petrol station from using different shades of the same colour combination in a different format so that the mark was not misleadingly similar to BP’s.

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