Deutsche Telekom has been associated with magenta for decades – and not just from a marketing perspective. The company owns an EU trade mark protecting a specific shade: Magenta RAL 4010.
But how far can such protection go?
The trade mark became the subject of cancellation proceedings involving US insurtech company Lemonade, and the dispute has now reached the General Court of the European Union. Deutsche Telekom is challenging a 2025 decision of the EUIPO Board of Appeal concerning its magenta colour mark.
The case raises a broader question in trade mark law: when does a colour stop being merely decorative and start functioning as an indication of commercial origin? 🎨
EU courts have repeatedly stressed that colours should not be monopolised too easily.
