ST. PAUL, MN (BRAIN)—The United States Patent and Trademark office has granted federal trademark registrations to Park Tool Company for its iconic blue color.
Exclusive rights were granted to Park Tool for the use of the color blue in five categories, including bicycle hand tools, measuring equipment, pumps, cleaning equipment and repair stands.
Park Tool is the only company in the bicycle industry, and one of the few companies in any industry, to receive federal protection for a color. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has granted 1,329 federal registrations dating back to 1913, of which 967 are currently active. Similar color trademarks have been awarded to Owens Corning for pink insulation, John Deere for green and yellow farm equipment and UPS for its iconic brown.
“Park Tool is undeniably tied to the color blue. If you show a blue tool to a bicycle mechanic or enthusiast they will tell you it’s a Park Tool product,” said Eric Hawkins, president and owner of Park Tool. “After building a reputation of quality and innovation over the past 40 years, we want to protect that investment and eliminate confusion in the market. A good number of our competitors started to produce blue bicycle tools intent on capitalizing on our reputation and status. In order to end this confusion it was necessary for us to secure federal registrations to better enforce our famous color brand.”
