In the United Kingdom, colours have been granted trademark protection when used in specific, limited contexts such as packaging or marketing.
Later, with the passage of the Lanham Act the United States Supreme Court in the case of Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., 514 U.S. 159, 165, 115 S.Ct.
The right to exclusive use of a specific color as a trademark on packaging has generally been mixed in U.S. court cases.
Specific cases denying color protection include royal blue for ice cream packages (AmBrit Inc. v. Kraft, Inc., 812 F.2d 1531 (11th Cir.
United States practice is generally more liberal; a trademark for plumeria scent for sewing thread was registered in 1990.
In Europe, a written description, with or without a deposited sample, is not sufficient to allow the mark to be registered, whereas such formalities are acceptable in the United States.
However, even in the United States "functional" scents that are inherent in the product itself, such as smell for perfume, are not accepted for registration.
[1] Presenting further difficulties are entirely new types of marks which, despite growing commercial adoption in the marketplace, are typically very difficult to register, often because they are not formally recognised as a "trademark".
The decision was based upon the fact that the company had been emphasizing the pink color of its insulation for decades, had licensed use of the Pink Panther cartoon character in its ads, the color was a non-functional aspect of the product (fiberglass is normally tan or yellow), and Owens Corning had spent over US$50 million advertising its insulation product.