In CeramTech GmbH v. Coorstek Bioceramics LLCs, the Federal Circuit held that CeramTech's trademarks of the color pink for hip ceramic components were functional. To consider functionality, the Federal Circuit focused mostly on the first Morton-Norwich factor, which states that claimed features in a patent are strong evidence of functionality. Based on CeramTec's concession that the color pink was a result of the claimed range of chromia in its expired patent, and based on CeramTec's disclosure from its own patents and related prosecution that chromia led to unprecedented levels of hardness in the composition, the Federal Circuit found that the color pink was a functional feature and affirmed TTAB's holding to cancel the trademarks at issue.
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