Analisis Perlindungan Hukum Terhadap Warna yang Diakui Sebagai Merek Dagang dalam Hukum Internasional dan Hukum Nasional Indonesia

Abstract

The use of color as a recognized trademark, analyzing its registration, regulation, constraints, and legal protection from the perspectives of international and Indonesian national law. As the role of color becomes increasingly vital in brand identity and competitiveness in the global market, an urgent need for harmonization and legal certainty emerges. This study employs a normative juridical research method with a statutory approach, a comparative approach, and case approach to analyze existing regulations.

The findings show that under the TRIPS Agreement international law recognises protection for combinations of colours provided those combinations have distinctiveness acquired through use that can be verified through secondary meaning and provided they are not functional. Because TRIPS allows each member to decide how to apply these provisions, advanced jurisdictions such as the United States and Australia also protect single colour. A landmark decision such as Louboutin v. YSL confirms that colour marks can obtain narrowly tailored protection that balances exclusive rights with market competition. By contrast, Indonesian law in Number 20 of 2016 on Trademarks and Geographical Indications mentions only arrangements of colours, which courts and examiners interpret as combinations and thus effectively bar the registration of single colours. Indonesia also lacks technical guidelines for proving secondary meaning, has no precise standard for colour representation, leaves wide discretion to examiners, and has produced little jurisprudence on the subject. This regulatory gap causes legal uncertainty for businesses and weakens Indonesia’s position in protecting nontraditional marks. The study therefore concludes that Indonesia needs regulatory reform at least through implementing regulations that explicitly recognise and govern the registration of single colour and combination of colors marks so that the legal framework provides certainty and aligns with international best practice.