Phillips Foods gains color-based trade dress registration for packaging

Registration earns right to be only company allowed to sell crab meat in a black can

-- Packaging Digest, 11/19/2009 5:39:11 PM

What does a small company selling crab meat out of Maryland have in common with consumer icons Tiffany & Co. and John Deere Tractor? All three possess a registration from the US Patent and Trademark Office that protects the colors identified with their brand. For example, only Tiffany & Co. can package jewelry in boxes of robin’s egg blue. And similarly, companies such as UPS and Home Depot enjoy the same sort of protection for their brands.

Known by consumers and chefs as the “black can crab meat,” Phillips crab meat has been packaged in a black can since 1990. With Phillips being the No.1 selling crab meat in the country, other crab-meat companies began to mimic the color and style of Phillips packaging.