New Zealand decision leaves Cadbury blue

Angela Wray of AJ Park reviews the New Zealand Court of Appeal decision of Cadbury Ltd v Effem Foods Ltd [2007] NZCA 303 which recently held that Cadbury was not entitled to register the word PURPLE for non-purple confectionary products.

According to Angela Wray, this decision suggests that it is just as difficult to register a word that describes a colour as it is to register a colour itself, particularly if the colour could be descriptive of the goods or a characteristic of them. A word that describes a colour could, however, become distinctive through use in the same way that a colour mark potentially can.

Australian Intellectual Property Law Bulletin (2008) 20(7)


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