Santa Clara Law Review Volume 26 Article 3 Number 3 Combined Issues No. 3-4 1-1-1986 Trademark Registration of Product Colors: Issues and Answers Lee Burgunder Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Lee Burgunder, Trademark Registration of Product Colors: Issues and Answers, 26 Santa Clara L. Rev. 581 (1986). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview/vol26/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Santa Clara Law Review by an authorized administrator of Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. TRADEMARK REGISTRATION OF PRODUCT COLORS: ISSUES AND ANSWERS Lee Burgunder* I. INTRODUCTION In October, 1985, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that Owens-Corning was entitled to register the color "pink" as a trademark for its fibrous glass residential insulation.' Yet, before this date, the law was well-settled that an overall product color could not be appropriated as a trademark.' Thus, one might think that the Owens-Corning decision represented a controversial turning point in trademark theory with respect to the federal registration of colors. In reality, however, the decision merely marked one more step on the path of confusion upon which the courts recently have been treading in the field of product color trademark registration. Currently, courts focus on the "functionality" of colors in trade- 8 mark cases. In light of the demands of competition in a free-market © 1986 by Lee Burgunder * Associate Professor of Law, California Polytechnic State University.