Bogdan Bularda*, Elena Grecu**

Abstract
The article analyses the usefulness and the importance of colour trademarks in the commercial market and how a company’s need to hold such a trademark appears. To this end, the article illustrates the requirements for the registration of a colour trademark, as well as the limits imposed by practice and case law both at the European and international level, focusing on practical examples and decisions that set concrete directions for the protection of colour trademarks. The conclusions highlight that despite the fact that a debate concerning the scope of the protection of such a trademark stays valid, there are certain factors relevant in the evaluation of this kind of cases, such as the company’s efforts and its history related to a certain colour, but also the possibilities of the competitor to offer a viable alternative and to effectively promote its own products and services. Also, noteworthy are the advantages acquired by a company compared to its competitors when it manages to complete successfully such a procedure, as well as the disadvantages of a failure which guarantees to the competitors the legal possibility to use a certain
colour a third company invested in to create an association in the public mind between the company and that colour.

* Studiul a mai fost publicat în Ciprian Raul Romițan, Paul George Buta (editori coordonatori), IN HONOREM – VIOREL ROȘ, Studii de drept privat și public, Ed. Hamangiu, București, 2021, pp. 470-483.
* Avocat, SCA Grecu și Asociații, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
** Avocat, SCA Grecu și Asociații, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..