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IP Lecture Series: Owning Colors

March 20, 2019 @ 1:15 pm - 2:45 pm CDT

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | 1:15 p.m.
Onsite registration begins at 12:45 p.m.

CLE Credit: 1.5 hours (pending)
CLE credit is extended to Illinois attorneys only. Attorneys who need CLE from other states are welcome to apply to their jurisdictions on their own. The extension of CLE credit is subject to each state approval.

There is no cost to attend this lecture; however, registration is requested.

Colors are powerful. We are biologically wired to respond to them. A particular color may stimulate emotion, activate memory and influence perception of the passage of time. Historically, colors have been invested with mystical, symbolic and religious significance. Because of their significant persuasive potential, colors have become the subject of intellectual property (IP) claims, especially under trademark law. Given the many non-trademark meanings that colors can express, how do courts and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) sort through these claims to determine when colors should be the subject of IP protection?

In Owning Colors, Professor Gerhardt (with co-author, Professor Jon McClanahan, University of Minnesota Law School), explore this question and review how different disciplines approach color meaning. Professor Gerhardt will present their new research providing contemporary insights into how consumers respond to colors. She will show what her research reveals about consumers color preferences, color quality associations and whether consumers use colors to find brands when they shop. She will explain how trademark law sorts color signals and the extent to which courts and the USPTO grant businesses the exclusive right to use a color in a particular market. Owning Colors promises to be an interdisciplinary treat that will explore color perceptions, how colors influence market behavior, and a growing trend of claiming colors as IP.

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Date:
March 20, 2019
Time:
1:15 pm - 2:45 pm CDT
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