According to Article 8 of the Trademark Law, any sign capable of distinguishing the goods of a natural person, legal person, or other organization from those of others, including text, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional signs, color combinations, and sounds, as well as combinations of the above elements, can be registered as a trademark.
It is evident that there are many types of trademarks, one of which is the color combination trademark. What is a color combination trademark?A color combination trademark refers to a trademark composed of two or more colors combined in a specific manner. From the definition of a color combination trademark, a color trademark consists of two or more colors combined together. A single color cannot constitute a color combination trademark.
What are the characteristics of color combination trademarks?
Firstly, the color combination trademark is made up solely of colors.
Secondly, the color combination trademark does not specify a particular shape, and the object of protection is the color combination used in a specific way.
What should be noted when applying for a color combination trademark?
When applying for a color combination trademark, it should be declared in the application form, i.e., in the "Trademark Application Declaration" column, check "applying for trademark registration with a color combination," and submit the specimen of the color combination trademark.
For those applying for trademark registration with a color combination, in addition to declaring it in the application form, the following points should be noted:
1. A color combination trademark should consist of two or more colors. Moreover, the trademark specimen should be a color block indicating the color combination manner or a graphic outline indicating the color usage location. This graphic outline is not a component of the trademark and must be represented by dotted lines, not solid lines.
2. Those applying for trademark registration with a color combination should submit a text description, specifying the color standard and describing the trademark usage method. The text description, color standard, and trademark usage method should be filled in the "Trademark Description" column.
In practice, we also see trademarks claiming color protection. What is the difference between this and a color combination trademark?
A trademark claiming color protection refers to a trademark where the text, graphics, letters, numbers, and other elements have been colored, and it requires protection for the attached colors in conjunction with other elements. A trademark claiming color protection can be in one color or multiple colors.
An important point to distinguish from a color combination trademark is that a color combination trademark is a combination of several colors, and the included graphics are not the object of protection for the color combination trademark. Moreover, the colors must be two or more. In contrast, when a traditional trademark claiming color protection, it can be either one color or many colors, and the color is part of the trademark protection along with the other elements of the trademark, such as text and graphics.
When applying for a trademark, the requirements for trademark claiming color protection are simpler compared with a color combination trademark. For a trademark claiming color protection, you cannot check "applying for trademark registration with a color combination" on the application form. The applicant needs to submit a colored trademark specimen and declare that "this trademark claims color protection" as the trademark description.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.