Intellectual property rights are very well protected in Europe – in many cases more so that in the USA. For American readers that don’t know the easyGroup, a guy called Stelios has set up a number of businesses from internet cafes and car rental to a successful airline. He’s used the “easy” brand for all the businesses and also made unsubtle use of the colour orange. Now he wants to enter the mobile phone market, Orange is claiming “rights regarding the use of the colour orange”. It remains to be seen how the case progresses, and whether the fact that the two companies actually use different colours (PANTONE 151 for Orange and PANTONE 021 for easyMobile) will make any difference. The technology industry, however, has managed to survive companies using similar colours – one shade or blue or another is used in most high-tech branding. To find out more about the use of colour in branding, contact our design guru, Bill.

Author

  • Mike Maynard

    In 2001 Mike acquired Napier with Suzy Kenyon. Since that time he has directed major PR and marketing programmes for a wide range of technology clients. He is actively involved in developing the PR and marketing industries, and is Chair of the PRCA B2B Group, and lectures in PR at Southampton Solent University. Mike offers a unique blend of technical and marketing expertise, and was awarded a Masters Degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Surrey and an MBA from Kingston University.

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