Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Re: Nextel Goes Taxi-Cab Yellow

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 23:00:00 -0400

Nextel Will Share the Color Yellow, Despite Ads

By Sinead Carew
September 16, 2003

NEW YORK (Reuters)

Yellow still means sunshine, bananas, New York City taxi cabs and smiley faces --
despite Nextel Communications Inc.'s assertion earlier this week it had taken
ownership of the color. 

"Yellow is the color of optimism, industry and action. Its the color of done. And
we own it," the No. 5 U.S. cell phone company said on Monday in literature
promoting a new advertising campaign, with posters sporting a sunflower-like hue. 

Nextel, which launched the campaign amid new competition for its walkie-talkie
feature known as push-to-talk, made news this summer after it claimed it owned the
phrase "push-to-talk." Rival Verizon Wireless has since launched a push-to-talk
service. 

Nextel spokesman Chris Grandis said on Tuesday the company was looking for a bold
statement but did not actually try to apply for trademark rights to use yellow. 

"We do not own the color yellow," he said. "We feel that having this color and
some of the things we're doing with this campaign will make it feel we have a much
bigger presence than we've ever had before." 

Advertisers and companies, including France Telecom's cellphone unit Orange, have
long used color to successfully develop brand images. Photographic film maker
Eastman Kodak Co. is often referred to as Big Yellow while International Business
Machines Corp. is often called Big Blue because of their branding colors. 

But ad executives mocked the idea of owning color. 

"Post-it-notes, highlighters and the sun would be rather disappointed if they
can't use the color yellow," said DiMassimo Brand Advertising founder Mark
DiMassimo. 

Another advertising executive said it is hard for a company to take over a color
in the minds of consumers. 

"There is a cultural signpost that already exists in everybody's mind where colors
reside," said technology branding agency LB Works' chief creative officer Steffan
Postaer who associates yellow with taxi cabs and smiley face icons. 

A company could own a trademark in a particular color in connection with certain
goods and industries if it establishes that it has programmed consumers to
associate it with that color trademark lawyer Sally Abel of Fenwick & West said. 

"But trademark law very often is shades of gray," Abel said. "We don't know what
the outer boundaries would be." 

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=3455526

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From: "TJC" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 07:54:50 -0400

Does this mean they will be trademarking, copyrighting and patenting THEIR color so no one can use the color yellow again?

:-)

I wouldnt be surprised.

TJ
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: [email-masked] 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 11:00 PM
  Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Re: Nextel Goes Taxi-Cab Yellow

  By Sinead Carew
  September 16, 2003

  NEW YORK (Reuters)

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 10:13:43 -0400

They  copyrighted "Yellow Coward"

TJC wrote:

> Does this mean they will be trademarking, copyrighting and patenting THEIR color
> so no one can use the color yellow again? :-) I wouldnt be surprised. TJ
>
>      ttp://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=3455526
>
>
>
>
>
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