Thinking of finally opening that quaint cupcake store you always dreamt of? Before you pick your favourite colour scheme for the lettering, you may want to consider reading up on trademark laws (especially section 10 of the Trademarks Act) that prevent the use of certain trademarked colours.
Take a look at six such colours which, if used, could get you sued!
1. Tiffany Blue: The upscale jeweller first used this specific shade of turquoise blue in 1845, probably because of the popular gemstone turquoise. Tiffany owner Charles Lewis Tiffany chose the colour for the cover of its Blue Book catalogue. The colour is not only trademarked by the company but also has its own Pantone Number -- 1837, the year the company was founded.
2. Caterpillar Yellow: The company CAT (Caterpillar Inc.) prohibits other companies from using its distinct Caterpillar Yellow without its permission.
3. Cadbury Purple: Royal purple has been associated with Cadbury since they used the shade for wrapping their chocolate in honour of Queen Victoria in the 1800s. Cadbury was successful in staking its claim against Nestle to register its shade of purple, but the ruling was later overturned and the war rages on.
4. Post-It's Canary Yellow: Manufacturing company 3 M has trademarked the colour canary yellow used on its famous Post-It Notes. The company sued Microsoft for using the colour for their digital sticky notes.
5. Barbie Pink: Barbie's parent company 'Mattel' has trademarked the use of the bright shade of pink for more than 100 categories of Barbie products. Mattel sued MCA Records in 1997 when the song 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua came out. They claimed that the album art was too similar to the packaging of Barbie, including the use of Barbie Pink.
6. UPS Brown: UPS trucks were first painted with the colour in 1916 because it was considered the "epitome of luxury". The colour scheme of gold and brown has been trademarked by the company.