An important lawsuit on the subject is currently being heard by the Federal Court of Justice. Unilever has applied to the German Patent and Trademark Office for cancellation of the colour mark blue registered for its competitor Beiersdorf. Interim status at the beginning of April: Beiersdorf has to submit a representative consumer survey and only if far more than 50% of the respondents associate the colour primarily with the brand "Nivea" should it be possible to prevent Beiersdorf's cancellation.
The current Nivea blue (Pantone 280C) has been registered as a trademark since 2007, which means that no competitor is allowed to use it for similar products. There are many colour trademarks: Langenscheidt (yellow dictionaries) and Kraft (Milka purple) are other examples. It is also interesting that the Nivea blue registered before 2007 is quite different from the current Nivea blue.
Article Die Welt 02.04.15
Current trade mark application at the DPMA
Previous trade mark application at the DPMA
Photo credit: flickr.com, Justus Blümer, licence: CC-BY 2.0[:en]
