Color.  For a designer, it's a noun, adjective and verb.  Through this spectrum, ideas are communicated, personas are made, identities formed.

But has the size of the palette begun to shrink?  An alarming new trend could be setting the pace for the future of color usage that would not only effect designers, but emerging brands and companies alike. Though small, there is a growing movement of corporations who own the trademarks of specific hues, which means that color could be the next scarce resource.

Currently, cellular giant T-Mobile owns the rights to the color magenta.  You did not misread…they have trademarked the color Magenta™.  Over the past several years, the company has sued other entities, most notably the technology blog Engadget Mobile.  Although T-Mobile can only trademark within the industry they are registered, the color may not be used in design pertaining to digital media or phones, and most anything affiliated with the Internet.  That’s a pretty big blanket.

Further trends show that not only are colors being trademarked, but the actual names of colors are being claimed.  For example, Owens-Corning, the producer of insulation products featuring The Pink Panther, has trademarked “PINK” in association to its signature insulation, while in the UK, cellular provider Orange has trademarked... well, Orange.

How important is color?

If you think of Target, chances are the color red weaved its way into a mental picture.  In fact, many people you ask can typically spot a Target ad through color alone without ever seeing the name or company logo.  Red is not only synonymous with Target, but Coke, Macy's, and McDonald's.  The same can be said about blue, with Wal-Mart, Dell, Samsung, and Ford all incorporating this very accesible hue as part of their corporate identity.

So, was T-Mobile just guarding their brand by trademarking Magenta™?  Understandably, corporations have a need to protect their intellectual properties. But on the flip side, slowly removing pieces of the color spectrum could mean serious roadblocks for future companies and brands ahead.

This angle in restricting the usage of color to prevent brand confusion in the public's eye is a slippery slope.  Some foresee corporations trademarking choice colors until the palette runs dry for the rest of the industry.  For the time being there is saftey in numbers for companies like Wal-Mart, Dell, Samsung, and Ford; they all have to share blue.