Royal Purple gets trademark for purple container

[TallPaul]

Lubes & Greases (April 2004, Page 38) says:

"After years of effort, Royal Purple has received a federal trademark for the exclusive use of purple containers to package lubricants. ... all purple--not just Pantone Purple or one certain shade--is off-limits for competitors' lube containers. ... The company is also in the process of trademarking the purple color of its lubricants."

Does that mean Quaker State can trademark all shades of green container, and Pennzoil all shades of yellow? What about Valvoline? They use white, silver, red, and blue.

 

[Bio-T]

One of the biggest items in sales is the marketing of the product. And uniqueness in a product does sell. Probably not a kid alive in the US that does not recognize the big yellow "M" in McDonald's. And when you go in an Auto Parts Store that has purple bottles, just look at the weight of oil you desire. The brand is recognizable by the color purple. Royal Purple is unique in that it contains a color in it's name. Brand recognition is a vital asset in sales.

[ April 24, 2004, 12:16 AM: Message edited by: rugerman1 ]

 

[tom slick]

slime tire sealant has thier green color patented.

 

[Mystic]

I can't see getting a patent on the color of an oil container as making a lot of sense. I can see getting a patent on a logo. But if everybody got a patent on the color of their oil container, pretty soon all of the colors would be taken. What would you have then if somebody new came along-a slightly different shade of purple, green, blue, red, yellow, orange, etc.? New companies would have to have gray containers, or multi-colored like a tie-dyed shirt.?

I just don't see that somebody should be allowed a patent on the color of their oil container. A color is not the same as a logo.

Too many lawyers in this country. This is like Apple Computer being sued because they used the word 'Unix' to describe the operating system underneath Mac OS X. Isn't BSD pretty much the same as Unix?

You have another company trying to sue other companies because they used the JPEG film format without the permission of the company.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mystic:
Too many lawyers in this country.

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A pedestrian gets killed by a hit and run driver. How do you know if the victim was a lawyer?
No skid marks!

Mystic hits it right on the mark. If RP can trademark the color, and so broadly, if others follow suit, what will happen to oil packaging. It would have made more sense to trademark a narrow range of purple that maintains RPs color distinguisable from one a competitor may use. Oddly, it seems nobody has wanted to copy RP that I am aware of. Wonder why.

But look at Redline. There is a company that apparently couldn't care less about the container so long as it holds the product securely. I'll prefer the company whose focus is on product not on packaging to the degree that they even color the actual oil.

[ April 24, 2004, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: TallPaul ]

 

[Bio-T]

quote:

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Originally posted by TallPaul:

quote:

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Originally posted by Mystic:
Too many lawyers in this country.

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But look at Redline. There is a company that apparently couldn't care less about the container so long as it holds the product securely. I'll prefer the company whose focus is on product not on packaging to the degree that they even color the actual oil.

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Royal Purple spent many years and dollars for the rights to the color of the oil container. And if you want to pursue it, Red Line is in the wings.
Your statement on the focus is on the product etc. is off target. One of the best automobiles to ever hit the market was the Tucker. Poor advertising, meant poor sales, hence no Tuckers.
Plus Royal Purple helps keep BITOG free as a site supporter. So not all their money goes to lawyers.

 

[rugerman1]

quote:

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I'll prefer the company whose focus is on product not on packaging to the degree that they even color the actual oil.

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I can think of a few oil with dye:
Schaeffers:Green
German Castrol:Green
Royal Purpleurple
Kendall GT-1:Green

They are soild performers.

GC may be naturally green for all I know.

[ April 24, 2004, 09:42 AM: Message edited by: rugerman1 ]

 

[sbc350gearhead]

I have used RP motor oil, PS fluid and gear oil.......and they all worked very very well in my applications. Quite frankly.....I don't really care what color the oil or bottle is. If using purple dye or bottles helps them be competitive against the big money players..........then more power to them.

I feel that the more competitive players you have.......the better the end product will be for all of us, due to capitalism and competition.

 

[jthorner]

quote:

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I feel that the more competitive players you have.......the better the end product will be for all of us, due to capitalism and competition

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Amen to that. Imagine if we had a rational, organized and efficient motor oil lubricant industry. There would be one formulation in probably three grades. No advertising would be required. No lawsuits about marketing claims. It would only be sold at one mega store (WalMart ?) and would come in whatever color bottle the plastic recyling plants were making that day ... probably gray or tan. No need for BITOG as there would be nothing to talk about. Said oil would probably be dino juice of something like the old "SD" grade and the price would be over $5/liter. Quarts would have been outlawed years ago as irrational in the metric age. Supply shortages would be frequent as there would be no incentive for the mfg. plants to keep to any particular schedule.

In order to buy said oil a person would have to be a licensed oil user, which would mean paying a bribe to the local city council members.

Ah, the people's paradise, what a concept

.

John

 

[Shannow]

Guys, if we can just get in quick and register "Every other bottle colour than clear or purple" (purely to differentiatre OUR product from those two players), we could really be onto something.

 

[goldfinger]

Quaker State holds a patent for the clear bottle. I don't see any reason RP shouldn't be able to do the same for their purple bottle.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

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Originally posted by 59 Vetteman:
Royal Purple spent many years and dollars for the rights to the color of the oil container. And if you want to pursue it, Red Line is in the wings.
Your statement on the focus is on the product etc. is off target. One of the best automobiles to ever hit the market was the Tucker. Poor advertising, meant poor sales, hence no Tuckers.
Plus Royal Purple helps keep BITOG free as a site supporter. So not all their money goes to lawyers.

---

Sorry 59 Vetteman. I stepped a bit out of line with my comment about focusing on color. I'll try to be more considerate in the future.

But I do find the fact that a bottle color could be trademarked absurd, whether it be Royal Purple or the clear color of Quaker State. Presumably, they never would have gotten the trademark if one other company were already using purple bottles.

Now I'm wondering if John Deere has a trademark on green tractors?

 

[Bio-T]

 

[shortyb]

Reminds me of Harley Davidson's (attempted?) patent of it's sound in response to Honda cruisers almost identical lope. Whatever. I agree its end product that gets loyalty but recognizable marketing helps start this process.

Speaking of lawyers, what do you call 500 of them at the bottom of the ocean?.........A good start.

 

[Bror Jace]

I guess I’m in agreement with all those turned off by marketing hype, flashing lights, gimmicks, etc ... so this turns me off ... but not anymore than the other examples cited above.

I have a few others which are utter nonsense: Remember when Prince (the singer) sued the pasta company over their name which pre-existed his? More recently, I heard that Donald Trump wanted to trademark/copywrite the phrase “You’re Fired!”

I loved jthortner’s defense of the status quo in this country. While I’m not for a bland socialist utopia, I’m not a fan of a mindless mass of sheeple consumers being manipulated by marketing tricksters and their pet attack lawyers either.

Oh, and yes, I have a marketing degree.

--- Bror Jace