P3D Re: The Grass / Copyright question

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bob Maxey wrote:
> p|>I ran across something amusing yesterday - while putting down some grass
> p|>seed on my lawn, they have a notice on the bag that they had copyrighted
> p|>the word "green" (!). They do note, however, that it only applies to
> p|>references to grass seed.
> 
> Are you sure you read the notice correctly? BTW, I do not mean any offense
> with my inquiry. I absolutely know that these types of claims usually do
> not hold up if challenged. For example, Sunkist can't copyright the word
> "Orange" as it applies to either the product or the color. I can't, for
> example, raise my own brand of oranges and then copyright the word orange
> as it applies to oranges. I am sure the word green can be a part of the
> name of the product, or green can be used in a slogan that can be
> protected. Incidentally, the last I read, Song Titles and Titles of Books
> can't be protected, either.
> 
> Grass IS green, Oranges ARE orange. The object defines the term.
> 

He probably meant trademark.  I have heard of other companies doing
similar things.  3M sued (and won) a software company that produced a
pop up reminder that looked like a post-it note.  The point they were
suing about was that the specific shade of yellow used by post-it
notes was also used by the software.  I know Kodak is very protective
of it's shade of yellow, and I'm sure Fuji is careful about green.
Mattel packaging lists "Barbie Pink" as trademarked.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"


------------------------------