Can I Trademark a Color in India?

Q: Can I trademark a color in India?

A combination of colors is registrable in India and is common. A single, standalone color is also registrable in principle under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, but only if you can show it has acquired strong distinctiveness through extensive use — in practice this is rare and hard to prove.

Yes — but there's an important distinction between a combination of colors and a single color, and the difficulty level is very different for each.

Color combinations: routine

Registering two or more colors used together in a consistent, distinctive way (for example, a specific arrangement of colors on packaging or a logo) is common and relatively straightforward, provided the combination functions as a source identifier rather than a purely decorative choice.

A single color: possible, but a high bar

The Trade Marks Act, 1999 defines a "mark" broadly enough to include a single color, and Indian trademark practice does recognize single-color marks. But a single color is inherently non-distinctive on its own — consumers don't usually treat "the color purple" as pointing to one specific company, they treat it as a color. To register one, you generally need to show acquired distinctiveness: strong evidence that, through years of extensive and consistent use, the relevant public has come to associate that specific color, in that specific context, with your brand alone.

This is exactly the argument at the center of well-known international disputes over single-color marks in the confectionery and technology sectors — the color itself wasn't inherently distinctive, but decades of consistent, heavily marketed use built the association. That's a high evidentiary bar few applicants can meet, which is why single-color registrations remain the exception rather than the norm.

What this means practically

If you're building a brand around a signature color, the realistic path is:

Register the color as part of a combination mark (with your logo, name, or packaging design) now — this is achievable and gives real protection.
Use the color consistently and prominently over time.
Revisit a standalone single-color application later if the color genuinely becomes distinctive to your brand specifically — supported by evidence like sales figures, advertising spend, and consumer recognition surveys.

Filing a standalone single-color application without that evidentiary foundation is likely to draw an objection under absolute grounds for lack of distinctiveness.