In April, "Deutsche Telekom, owners of the global T-Mobile brand, sent Engadget a late birthday present: a hand-delivered letter direct from their German legal department requesting the prompt discontinuation of the use of the color magenta on Engadget Mobile."
This, of course, is total horse manure. Colors are merely colors. They cannot seriously be considered as intellectual property. Nobody worked for years in trial-and-error experiments before they discovered magenta.
T-Mobile doesn't deserve exclusive rights to the color magenta. So it's time for more rebellion and civil disobedience. I await the sound of heavy boots on my steps, and the sound of fists banging on my door in the middle of the night.
For the next 24 hours, or until I get sued by T-Mobile, the colors on this blog will be magenta. Or the closest I can find for free on the Blogspot color palette. 
6 comments:
And yes, I'm aware that the colors in these trademarks will only get someone in trouble if they're used for the same purpose that the trademark holder uses them.
Much like I could use the name McDonald's to sell hardware or hats, but not hamburgers.
But colors?
When I first clicked on the blog, I thought you must have went all breast cancer awareness on me.
Nothin better than good ol' civil disobedience.
I took the new colors to mean a new, softer side of Allen. I cringed. I wrung my hands, gnashed my teeth and shouted in tongues. My eyes darted, my mouse danced, looking for catblogging posts, recipes for crepes, youtube videos of Barbara Streisand, painfully grinning photos of family vacations, the agonizing mundanity of "what I did today."
Happy to see the narsty bit of aesthetics is born of a worthy and righteous cause.
Very much agreed, the concept of trademarking a color is a bit like patenting oxygen.
To: The Whited Sepulchre
From: Abramowitz and Klein, Attorneys at Law
RE: Use of copyrighted term "The Whited Sepulchre"
Dear Mr. Sepulchre:
Please cease and desist use of words, images or marks using the copyrighted 'The Whited Sepulchre'. We act on behalf of our client Mr. Jesus H. Christ of Nazereth and the Southern Baptist Convention who registered the copyright with the Library of the Roman Senate on or about Octavius XII, XXIV BC.
If you continue use of this phrase without written permission of our client, you may be subject to fines and/or civil penalties up to and including damnation.
If you have any questions, please contact our office by prayer or fax. Go and sin no more.
Thank you,
Murray Abramowitz, esq.
Partner
Abramowitz and Klein, LLC
Did you know that lastminute.com has also trademarked the colour magenta? Or at least they say so at the bottom of their homepage. It's not the exact same magenta on your post, but it's close.
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