BP has lost its attempt in Australia to trademark the colour green which dominates its sunburst logo, after a long-running battle with Woolworths, which considers the green shade in its apple logo too similar.
IP Australia, the Australian Government agency responsible for administering patents, trade marks, etc., found BP was unable to show convincing evidence that it was indelibly linked in the average petrol consumers mind to the dark green shade known as Pantone 348C, a spokeswoman for the government agency said.
Several brands have successfully trademarked colours in the past, including Caterpillar Inc. for "Caterpillar Yellow", John Deere for it's tractors and other agricultural equipment, Tiffany & Co. for "Tiffany Blue", Cadbury for a certain shade of the colour purple and the use of the color red by banana company Fada, but a trademark on a colour is only limited to competitors in the same industry and does not grant the trademark holder exclusive rights to use the colour everywhere.
While BP has struggled to trademark the colour in Australia, it has succeeded in Britain and Europe.
BP has until July 17 to appeal.
