BGH decides: Obi fails with trademark protection for its corporate color orange
Years of dispute between Obi, Hornbach and Globus ended. BGH sees no special reference to Obi in the color.
Quick Look
- The hardware store chain Obi does not receive trademark protection for its corporate color orange.
- The Federal Court of Justice rejected the company's appeal and confirmed the deletion of the color mark following applications from competitors Hornbach and Globus.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Obi fought for years with Hornbach and Globus over trademark protection for the light red-orange shade.
For years, Obi has been arguing with Hornbach and Globus over the color orange. The company wanted to keep its special light red-orange tone as a protected trademark - and has now failed. The BGH sees the color as at most a reference to hardware stores in general.
The hardware store chain Obi does not receive trademark protection for its “house color” orange. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) and rejected the company's appeal against a decision by the Federal Patent Court. This had previously declared the deletion of the color trademark requested by competing hardware store chains to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) to be legal. Obi then went before the BGH.
According to the presiding judge, the color orange is at most a reference to hardware store chains in general, but not to a specific hardware store like Obi. Obi had previously argued that the special color that characterizes its logo, a kind of light red-orange, is a central and unmistakable part of its brand identity. The Federal Patent Court saw this differently - and now the BGH too. (Af. I ZB 58/25)
This ends a long-standing dispute between the company and the competing hardware store chains Hornbach and Globus. Their market presence is also determined by the color orange - they had applied for the Obi color trademark to be deleted.
Telekom magenta, Milka purple, Nivea blue
Obi is not the first company to want to protect a color that is typical of it. Deutsche Telekom successfully implemented this for its magenta red back in 1995. However, this protection is not absolute. A company never has one color that is universal for everything. The protection always only applies to a specific industry. For example, Telekom can prohibit other telecommunications companies from using magenta, but not a bicycle manufacturer.
Other well-known protected colors:
Milka (Purple): The parent company Mondelez has protected the specific Milka purple. No other manufacturer is allowed to offer chocolate or cocoa in this packaging color.
Nivea (Blue): Beiersdorf AG owns the rights to the typical Nivea blue for skin and body care products. There were bitter legal disputes with competitors over this blue color for years.
Sparkasse (Red): The Sparkasse Red is protected for financial services in Germany. The savings banks thus prevailed in a famous case against their competitor Santander.
ADAC (yellow): The automobile club's bright yellow is protected for roadside assistance and mobility services.
Langenscheidt (Yellow): The characteristic yellow is protected exclusively for dictionaries and language learning media.
Open Questions
- What specific consequences does the ruling have for Obi's marketing presence?
