Trademarks

Can you own a colour in Mexico?

Can you own a colour in Mexico?

· Trademarks

See a pink bag in a Mexican shopping centre and you think of one department store. See a particular shade of turquoise and you think of a jeweller. So can a colour be owned?

The short answer: yes, with conditions

The Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property allows the registration of colours as trademarks, but not a colour in the abstract. What is registrable is a specific shade, identified by an internationally recognised code such as Pantone, applied to specified goods or services.

A single colour with no shape, claimed generally, is refused. Nobody gets to remove "red" from the market.

The real hurdle: acquired distinctiveness

Colours are not inherently distinctive. Consumers do not naturally read a colour as an indication of commercial origin. To register one, you generally have to prove that through sustained and exclusive use, the public has come to associate that shade with you and nobody else.

That means evidence: years of consistent use, advertising spend, market surveys, sales figures, press coverage. It is one of the more demanding files in trademark practice.

What is easier and usually enough

Registering the colour combined with a shape, a pattern or your logo. That is inherently distinctive, far cheaper, and covers most commercial situations. Use the single-colour route only when the shade genuinely carries the brand on its own.

If colour is central to your identity, we can advise on which route is realistic for your evidence base.

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