GREEN (TM) LIGHT FOR COLOR TRADEMARKS

Companies can get trademark protections for distinctive colors that distinguish their brands from others, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled today. Justice Steven Breyer, who wrote the ruling, noted trademarks have been granted for the shape of Coca-Cola bottles, the scent of sewing thread and NBC's three-chime jingle. "If a shape, a sound and a fragrance can act as symbols, why, one might ask, can a color not do the same?" he wrote. The decision reversed a lower court's denial of a trademark for green-gold dry-cleaning press pads made by a Chicago firm. Columbia University Law School professor Jane Ginsburg told TIME Daily that lower courts have upheld many trademarks on colored products and packaging, including Owen Corning's pink insulation. But she said some other such trademarks, including one for blue Nutrasweet artificial sweetener packages, have been shot down.