Just discovered this interesting tidbit of information and thought it would be worth sharing. I've learned a fair share about trademarks/IP, but I had no idea something as vague as a color for a candy bar wrapper could be registered. A quick Google search + Wikipedia resulted in some newly acquired knowledge: "A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks [1] comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories, such as those based on color, smell, or sound." Apparently there have actually been lawsuits over the color orange [2].
So my question is - what happens when all of the commonly used colors are registered?
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-conventional_trademark
[2] http://www.foodliabilitylaw.com/2011/01/articles/trademark-2...