Mason Seir Turnbull discuss corporate colour protection with intellectual property strategies

Recent media reports have covered an attempt by Mitre 10 to protect its corporate colours from being used by a competitor, a legal matter Mason Sier Turnbull are often being asked to advise on.

It is not surprising large companies are trying to protect their colours from being used by their competitors, after all they can be a powerful way to attract attention on the roadside or online.

Business operators often think they can use trade marks to protect their corporate colours, however there are limitations to using the trade mark system in this context. For this reason, Mason Seir Turnbull 's Intellectual Property lawyers use a strategic approach to offer corporate colour protection for their clients.

If a company trade marks the words of their business, but not the colour scheme or the features of any logo, then the law will provide trade mark protection for the words, however the company will need to "fall back" on an assortment of legislation for the "passing off" of the other elements of their business.

Most businesses cannot afford to protect every element which may or may not be copied, however Mason Seir Turnbull's intellectual property strategy allows for choice of colour and feature to secure trade mark protection, when that is an important element to customer recognition, for instance, in e-commerce and suburban sales.

Word or sound trade mark protection can also be obtained, when that is an important element to customer recognition, such as in fast moving consumer goods, promotions via radio, orders via telephone, etc.

An intellectual property legal strategy requires careful thought about the business, its customers, and its competitors in order to get the protection the law provides to work in favour of the business.