Colour Trade Marks And Why You Should Watch Out For Them (2025 Updated)

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In any business, your intellectual property (IP) is what makes you stand out as a unique enterprise in 2025. Protecting your IP remains a critical part of safeguarding the identity and reputation of your brand.

One particular way of protecting that IP is through registering a trade mark.

Trade marking your business name, the name of your product or service, or even your logo gives you an exclusive right in Australia to use it exactly as you wish, while also preventing others from capitalising on your hard work. For more detailed guidance on securing your brand assets, check out our comprehensive trademark guide.

But did you know a business can also trade mark a colour?

Whether you’re a start-up or a well-established company, it’s always a good idea to research trade marks thoroughly – after all, safeguarding your brand is an ongoing process. You might also find our article on trading name versus business name useful when planning your overall IP strategy.

This article will explore the concept of trade marked colours and explain why your business should be considering them in today’s competitive market.

What Is A Trade Mark?

In any business, a word, phrase, symbol or logo plays a pivotal role in ensuring your brand is recognised by your customers and the broader community.

To guarantee that nobody else can use it – and to keep your brand unmistakably unique – you can legally register it as a trade mark through IP Australia, our national register of trademarks, patents and other IP protection.

A registered trade mark in Australia is valid for 10 years. If you’re considering expanding overseas, you might also want to explore international trademark protection. For more insights on protecting your creative work, you can also refer to our Intellectual Property Guide.

Can You Trade Mark A Colour?

You can trade mark a number of elements—including a specific colour. Yes, a colour can be a registered trade mark if it is sufficiently distinctive.

Many big international companies, whose brands rely heavily on a particular colour, regularly apply to have that exact hue registered as a trade mark.

Why? They want to ensure that the colour is exclusively associated with their brand, maintaining a unique and recognisable image in the market.

If you’re a small business owner contemplating making a specific colour a central feature of your branding, it’s a smart idea to check whether that colour is already protected by a trade mark.

Colour Trade Mark Examples

It can be quite challenging to secure a trade mark for a colour since colours are ubiquitous in everyday life. For a colour to be protected, it must be clearly distinctive and uniquely associated with a single business’s brand.

Many of the most recognised trade marked colours belong to large international brands that have invested significant time, money and resources into ensuring that colour is exclusively theirs. For instance, multinational confectionery leader Cadbury has long fought in court to secure the exclusive right to its distinctive shade of purple.

Similarly, Mattel’s iconic Barbie trade marks their signature, bright pink which has been central to their branding for over 60 years. You might also be surprised to learn that the original pale yellow hue used in Post-It® notes is trademarked.

This means that if you’re using any of these colours as a core element of your brand, you could inadvertently be infringing on someone else’s intellectual property rights.

Not sure whether your business is already using a trade marked colour?

It’s easy to check – you can quickly search on Google or use the IP Australia Trade Mark Register.

If you’re still not 100% certain, you can always set up a lawyer consultation with our friendly team at Sprintlaw – we’re here to help you navigate these complexities.

The Tiffany Blue

Perhaps the most famous trade marked colour is Tiffany & Co’s iconic turquoise blue – instantly recognisable on its classic Tiffany blue box. Although the well-known case dates back to 2019, enforcement of such colour marks has only tightened in recent years, with similar disputes persisting into 2025.

In one notable instance, a small Australian business owner received an infringement notice from Tiffany & Co after using a similar blue on its website as the primary colour for its product range (you can read more about the case here). This incident, among others, underscores the importance of diligent IP research before you commit to a brand’s visual identity.

The business in question had been operating for around five years before discovering that the distinctive colour used as a key element of their product was already protected. This serves as a cautionary tale for any business neglecting to verify its brand assets.

Even if you aren’t directly replicating another brand’s colour, checking your design choices against existing trade marks is essential. Not doing your research is not an excuse – staying aware of the IP landscape can save you from costly legal disputes in the future.

Infringement warnings can be a major headache, and rebranding down the line is both expensive and disruptive, especially if your business is already well established.

What’s The Risk?

As you can see, operating with a trade mark that is already registered by another business can result in an infringement notice demanding that you cease using their mark.

In the worst-case scenario, your business may receive a Cease and Desist Letter – a formal demand from the trade mark owner requesting that you stop using the disputed trade mark, failing which they may commence legal action.

Failure to comply can lead to court proceedings and substantial legal expenses – costs that could easily be avoided by performing thorough research from the outset.

Moreover, such disputes can be damaging to your business reputation; having to rebrand can mean starting over in a market where your customers are already familiar with your original look and feel.

The potential fallout isn’t just financial – it can also erode customer trust and confidence, all for an issue that might have been prevented with proper diligence.

What Do I Do Now?

The best course of action is to be proactive. In 2025, with the evolution of digital markets and heightened IP enforcement, taking steps to secure your brand early is more important than ever.

Whether you’re new to the business arena or a seasoned player, it’s so important to consider how trade marks and IP rights might impact your brand strategy. If you haven’t yet secured any trade marks, now is the perfect time to evaluate whether you should protect your business name, logo, or product identifiers.

Additionally, review whether any elements you already use might be infringing on existing trade marks in Australia. For those uncertain about the legal landscape or your business structure – perhaps wondering if operating as a sole trader matters or if you should consider another structure – our experienced team is here to assist.

Not sure how to approach this? No problem – that’s what we’re here for. Our friendly team at Sprintlaw offers a legal consultation that includes an Intellectual Property Health Check for your business.

We provide fixed-fee packages for registering trade marks, which include all associated administrative fees – no hidden costs involved!

If you’re keen on ensuring your business’ IP protection is robust and current, contact us at team@sprintlaw.com.au or call 1800 730 617.

Remember, protecting your brand is not a one-off task. In today’s fast-evolving legal environment, particularly with developments in digital marketing and online business, it is crucial to regularly review your IP portfolio. Our updated article on whether your business structure is protecting your assets can offer further insights. For more detailed advice on safeguarding all aspects of your intellectual property, explore our Intellectual Property Guide which is fully updated for 2025.

Regie Anne Gardoce

Regie is the Legal Transformation Lead at Sprintlaw, with a law degree from UNSW. Regie has previous experience working across law firms and tech startups, and has brought these passions together in her work at Sprintlaw.

Tomoyuki Hachigo

Tomo is the co-founder of Sprintlaw and a commercial lawyer with a broad range of legal experience. Before starting Sprintlaw, he was an M&A lawyer at a top-tier law firm advising businesses of all sizes from large corporates to startups.