March 2005
Mobile Phone Services: Who will be Orange?
Orange (the mobile telecoms company) are commencing an action for trade mark infringement and passing off against EasyGroup (the provider of budget air travel, car rentals and internet cafes). Orange want to stop EasyGroup from using the colour orange in their planned launch of a no-frills style mobile network operation.
Both companies have used the colour orange as their brand colour for some time but for different goods and services. However, with the planned launch of a new company, EasyMobile, both companies will be competing directly.
BRIFFA Comment:
A trade mark functions as an indicator of origin of the goods and services to which it attaches. It might also indicate quality, reputation, the renown of the producer, or even a way of seeing life. Words and logos are commonly registered as trade marks whilst shapes, sounds and colours can qualify too. In addition, colours are often used as elements of a trade mark registration with logos, symbols or lettering appearing in a particular colour or combination of colours.
However, this case raises new issues for which there is yet little guidance, that is, the situation where two businesses with widely recognised colour marks clash in a new field of activity for one or the other. When is one shade of a colour then going to be too confusingly similar to another?
Whatever the outcome, the result is likely to have implications for other companies who rely heavily on a colour in their brand identity. In order to avoid problems later, if your goods or services have a particular colour associated with them or a particular "get-up" or image, you might consider applying for a trade mark to protect the distinctiveness of your goods and/or services. It could be money well spent.