[2] Cadbury had applied trademark registration for the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) based on filed evidence of distinctiveness acquired through use of the mark; the application was accepted and published on 30 May 2008.
Nestlé opposed the application arguing that the mark was not capable of being represented graphically and as such is not registrable as a trademark.
The judge concluded ultimately in Cadbury's favour: Since single colours per se are, as a matter of European law, capable of being signs within Art.
2 ... then, to paraphrase a little the words Cadbury have used in the description of the mark, in my judgment the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) applied to the whole visible surface, or being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging of chocolate, is capable of being a sign within Art.
[...] Since on the evidence the public associate the colour purple itself with Cadbury's chocolate, Cadbury are entitled to a registered trade mark for that colour on the relevant goods and that is the mark they have applied for.