OT: Brown is a trademarked colour?

It's true within specific context(s), you could paint Davey's Ice Cream vans brown, but not Davey's Courier Service vans ...

It doesn't seem likely. What it probably means is that a courier company that uses a similar logo layout on brown is likely to give rise to a 'passing off' lawsuit, or whatever the US equivalent is. I believe Aldi recently lost a UK lawsuit for making a product branding which was too similar to another well-known company's.

On 09 Apr 2025, Joe wrote

Similarly, Lidl successfully sued Tesco in 2003 (who later lost an appeal), when it was ruled that Tesco's "Clubcard Prices" logo of a yellow circle on a blue square infringed Lidl's trademarks and copyrights.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Youy have to remember some nations are governed by laws. Not the USA. It is governed by lawyers. Take the case of Intel v. AMD. The US government wouldn't by products driven by Intel's 80386 micrpocessor because the was no second source. In principle a sensible decision.

Intel got together with AMD and agreed a cross-licensing agreement.

AMD started to advertise their version as the 386.

Then Intel's lawyers saw cash registers and persuaded intel to sue AMD because they had "patented 386" first. it went to court. I am not sure of the actual wording of the verdict but it went something like this.

"You bloody idiot, you can't patent a number!"

It's hard to believe but I recall Apple trying something equally perverse some years later but the details excape me.

Regards, Alan

Quite right. You don't get justice in the US - you get law, and plenty of it.

Remember that they elect their judges, which is why they have this plea bargain bollocks so judges (who have a vested interest in guilty pleas) can appear strong and enhance their re-election prospects.

Further, it's no wonder that their police are always in trouble. Over there, any tuppeny-ha'penny jurisdictions gets its own police force (there are nearly

I've never consider the Law to be about justice. It is about following written procedures known in the USA as "due process" (although that term isn't used as such in the UK). If it leads to justice, fine, but it may not do so. In that case, the Law needs revision, but even the revised version may not lead to justice.

And the problem with that is that not everybody agrees on what justice is.

Lots of people in the US (and elsewhere) think it's OK to murder CEOs of companies they disapprove of. Or indeed, democratically elected Presidents. Members of some religious sects think it's OK (i.e. their God approves) to murder those outside their sects.

And so on...

Be aware that they're asking some pretty weird questions, if you enter the country right now. We're instructed by our travel people to "not carry electronics" and if you must, "use a burner phone". Normal rule of law does not apply, not at the moment. Whatever whim fills their head, is a-OK. That's how a woman was put in security for 11 days.

This is why, "traffic is down at the border". It must be the cold spring air, keeping people away.

I don't know if they're asking for Facebook passwords these days or not. In the past, questions have been asked about your social networking accounts. To see what opinions you might have.

This also includes police traffic stops, while in-country. Two folk singers were asked some pretty weird questions by local police, on a traffic stop. It's not just border weirdos.

Paul

They're looking for an excuse for 'civil asset forfeiture', which is what highway robbery is called these days.

A college I worked at ages ago wanted to change its name, logo, letterhead etc. It chose a colour blue predominently until they were told that precise shade of blue was royal blue, only to be used by UK royalty.

Legalised banditry. It's whay happens when a 'city' runs out of money. The mayor calls his chief of police (elected on the same ticket), after which all the traffic cops get the word to nail anyone they can, like folks parking funny or doing 25.0001 mph in a 25 limit.

Which is why the 586 was called the Pentium.

And in much of America, it's illegal to park facing oncoming traffic. But not everywhere, like the 'Turn Right on a Red' option at traffic lights.

Sounds a bit of a dodgy tale , there is is more than one shade known as Royal Blue . A once famous Bournemouth based coach company called itself Royal Blue and liveried its vehicles with the colour for over a century.

GH.

I suppose it goes back to heraldry emblazons and jousting and all that. Any houses owned by the Cowdrey estate, Sussex have to be painted a specific shade of yellow and houses on the Southwick estate hampshire have to be a specific shade of red. I don't think houses in Beaulieu or Clovelly have such strictures though.

I thought 'the wrong sort of people' were relieved of the burden of actually doing 25.0001 mph in a 25 limit - by a nice policeman who will aver that they were vastly exceeding said limit?

Where there one person owns the whole thing, it's 'one man one vote' on pretty much everything.

I think companies may be able to trademark a specific shade. Cadbury's may do this for their shade of blue/purple, and I'm sure I've seen some wording about the day-glo pink that Dynorod use on their vans, though I think Dynorod's paint is also partly fluorescent (it not only reflects light but also emits visible light from UV in daylight).