Post Can’t Register Fruity Pebbles Colors Trademark, Board Says

The colors of Post Foods LLC’s Fruity Pebbles cereal don’t function as a trademark because they’re not distinctive, given myriad other rainbow-colored cereal, a trademark tribunal said in a precedential ruling.

Consumers routinely encounter multicolored breakfast cereals in a variety of shapes, including crisp rice cereal shapes similar to Fruity Pebbles, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said. That means Post’s use of its claimed colors isn’t exclusive and consumers don’t use the look as an indication of who made the product, it said.

The Thursday ruling drew a distinction between Post’s trademark application and its evidence the mark had ...