Search Site   
News Stories at a Glance
Deere 4440 cab tractor racked up $18,000 at farm retirement auction
Indiana legislature passes bills for ag land purchases, broadband grants
Make spring planting safety plans early to avoid injuries
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
Scientists are interested in eclipse effects on crops and livestock
U.S. retail meat demand for pork and beef both decreased in 2023
Iowa one of the few states to see farms increase in 2022 Ag Census
Trade, E15, GREET, tax credits the talk at Commodity Classic
Ohioan travels to Malta as part of US Grains Council trade mission
FFA members learn about Australian culture, agriculture during trip
Timing of Dicamba ruling may cause issues for 2024 planting
   
Archive
Search Archive  
   
Deere wins trademark suit over famous color scheme


PADUCAH, Ky. — The iconic green-and-yellow combination adorning thousands of tractors across the nation will now almost exclusively be adhered to John Deere equipment.

In a 107-page decision, the U.S. District Court in Paducah ruled in favor of the Illinois-based company after a week-long bench trial suit in June, which ruled that equipment manufacturer FIMCO had overstepped its boundaries with its sprayers of the same hue sequence.

In the suit, which Deere filed in April 2015, the company argued that FIMCO was trying to make a “deliberate and willful attempt to piggyback on Deere’s commercial success.” The suit claimed that FIMCO’s lawyers had admitted the company chose the colors so that consumers could “match the colors” of their sprayer to their tractor.

FIMCO’s argument that Deere’s accusations were barred by the doctrine of aesthetic functionality – that competing companies need to be able to use Deere’s design scheme to be able to offer matching colors – did not carry any weight, according to U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell. In his ruling, he stated that “it is true, as FIMCO has argued, that some factors weigh in its favor. However, more factors weigh in favor of Deere.”

He also ruled that Deere’s green-and-yellow color scheme was “famous” for trademark purposes, meaning FIMCO could also be held liable for “diluting” it by using similar colors.

In his decision, Russell wrote that Deere’s tractors and FIMCO’s sprayers looked “highly similar” and that there was some evidence of consumer confusion. “The relatedness of the goods, the similarity of the marks, evidence of actual confusion, the marketing channels used and the likelihood of expansion factors all weigh in favor of Deere.”

Additionally, he wrote that FIMCO had not addressed the issue when Deere expressed its concerns: “FIMCO has still made no attempt whatsoever to explain why the use of a different color scheme involving green or yellow would not constitute a comparable alternative that would allow it to satisfy the needs of its customers.”

Deere first registered the trademark for the color combination in 1988, when it put a patent on the hues for its agricultural and lawn and garden tractors, trailers, wagons and carts. That same year, a second trademark registration expanded the color combination's use on Deere’s wheeled agricultural machines, lawn and garden and material handling machines.

In 2010, the trademark was expanded to include Deere’s tractor-towed implements.

Given the popularity of Deere, it is not a surprise the company attempts to protect its colors. According to Deere and Co.’s third-quarter press release, net income attributable to the firm was $641.8 million, compared with $488.8 million for the same quarter in 2016. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2017, net income was $1.649 billion, compared with $1.239 billion for the same period last year.

This is not the first court case in which a company has professed its colors as trademark. “There have been many trademark actions involving trademark claims over the color or colors of a product,” said Brian Frye, associate professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law.

“It is well established that trademark can protect the color of a product, so long as the requirements for trademark protection are satisfied. (I)t seems like at one point that might not have been the case (with John Deere), when many manufacturers made green and yellow farm equipment.

“But John Deere's increasing prominence seems to have eclipsed consumer awareness of those other companies, to the point that the relevant consumers associate the color scheme overwhelmingly with John Deere,” he explained.

The court decision said FIMCO and all persons affiliated with the company are permanently enjoined from using the combination of green and yellow colors in the manufacturing, distribution, marketing, advertising or sale of trailered and wheeled agricultural equipment in any locality within the United States.

The court gave FIMCO 60 days to file a plan with the court on how it will comply with the permanent ban. Messages to Deere and FIMCO seeking comment for this piece were not returned.

11/8/2017