In a dispute over "their" red (HKS 13), the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV) has suffered a setback. The colour mark, which has been registered in Germany since 2007, may be cancelled. In any case, the Federal Patent Court has granted a request for cancellation by the Spanish competitor Santander, which has also been using a strong shade of red for many years. However, this does not mean the chapter is closed, because DSGV wants to appeal.
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| Logo of the Savings Banks (Wikipedia, wdwbot) |
Santander Bank logo (Wikimedia Commons, Iñigo Jerez) |
Comment: Colour marks - what nonsense!
You can declare a colour to be your property by registering it as a trade mark. The prerequisite is that it is predominantly known by the trademark owner in the relevant economic sector. This or a similar colour may then not be used by competitors. It is true that the Santander red is somewhat brighter and stronger, but that does not matter if the savings banks prevail, because the aim is to exclude brand confusion - similar word marks ("addidas" instead of "adidas") are also inadmissible. "So far so good", one could tick off the topic, and "what does it have to do with me?
Quite a lot! Colours are a gift of nature to every human being, and if someone declares them to be their property (even if only for narrowly defined economic areas), this affects our personal freedom. This, especially since colours take place above all within us; they are rather our own sensations than properties of things. "Thoughts are free", says the popular saying, and we boast of a liberal order that sets us positively apart from dictatorial regimes. "Some feelings are not free", one must unfortunately add. Today, you are not allowed to wrap sweets in purple paper, put cream in ultramarine tins or make magenta telephones - unless your name is Milka, Nivea or Telekom. It is time to educate people about this and put an end to the nonsense of "colour brands" before more corporations continue to restrict our (colour) freedom.
See also the FAZ article from 04.07.15 and the comments below it
