Publishers fight in German court over use of colour yellow
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Karlsruhe, Germany (dpa) - A US software publisher and a German dictionary publisher battled in court on Thursday over the colour yellow.
Rosetta Stone, which sells language-learning software in yellow cartons, is at odds with Langenscheidt, a Munich publisher of yellow-bound bilingual dictionaries and other language-learning aids used by students of German in many nations.
Last month, Germany's federal high court ruled that confused buyers of Langenscheidt products in Germany might accidentally purchase Rosetta Stone products believing they were getting Langenscheidt.
It ruled that the US company should stop using yellow.
Now, in a counter suit on appeal in the same court in the southern city of Karlsruhe, Rosetta Stone is demanding that Langenscheidt's claim to yellow in a register of trademarks be declared void.
Hearing arguments by lawyers, justice Wolfgang Buescher said a merchant can only trademark a colour if the product has a large market share, a long history of sale and a public perception linking that colour to that product.
The court was expected to issue a verdict at the end of the day.
