In this episode we're asking the question: Can you own a color? We’ll sort myth from law, discussing American luxury brand Tiffany, French artist Yves Klein, and the International Klein Blue token — a community-made blockchain token on the Solana chain — all real-world examples that, spoiler alert, do not imply actually owning blue.

📚 References & Further Reading

Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., 514 U.S. 159 (1995) — when a color can act as a trademark
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-1577.ZO.html

Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent America Inc. (2d Cir. 2012) — red sole protectable only in contrast
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/11-3303/11-3303-2012-09-05.html

Tiffany Blue — brand statementsTiffany & Co. Press page on Tiffany Blue (trademark and Pantone “1837 Blue”):
https://press.tiffany.com/our-story/tiffany-blue/

Yves Klein & IKB — myth-busting the “patented color”Centre Pompidou, “The untold story of the International Klein Blue (IKB) of Yves Klein”:
https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/pompidou-plus/magazine/article/the-untold-story-of-the-international-klein-blue-ikb-of-yves-klein

Material note (binder/pigment example)MoMA object text for Blue Monochrome (1961):
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80103