Obi loses trademark protection for orange color in German court ruling

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled that the DIY retailer Obi cannot maintain trademark protection for its signature orange color. The court rejected Obi's appeal, confirming the cancellation of the abstract color trademark that had been registered in 2010.

The legal dispute was initiated by competitors Hornbach and Globus, who sought the cancellation of the trademark on the grounds that the color lacked the necessary distinctiveness to identify a single provider. The court determined that in the context of hardware stores, orange serves merely as a general industry identifier rather than a reliable indicator of a specific company.

Although Obi presented surveys suggesting that nearly 50 percent of the population associated the color orange with the brand, the court found this insufficient. Expert testimony indicated an association rate of only 30 percent, and the court concluded that consumers do not typically use a product's color to determine the origin of goods or services. This decision follows previous rulings by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and the Federal Patent Court.