to be fair I was playing devil's advocate here. I actually agree with you, and think it's pretty naive for Deutche Telekom to try to trademark a standard colour (I'm in design so am well aware of CMYK / Pantone references). For what it's worth this will probably not get very far in terms of trademarking, as it will be deemed ineligible due to the precedent of use in other businesses and brands, and the lack of proprietary control in its 'creation'. The irony of all this is that magenta (CMYK 0% 100% 0% 0%) is particularly crass and blunt as a block colour for design in my view, but hey, it's up to them I suppose...

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This is neither outrageous nor unusual - many brands have trademarked a colour particular to them - this is to protect the equity of their brand and to ensure that it is used consistently by agents and licensees. Many businesses go to the trouble of commissioning their own fonts (Tate & British Airways spring to mind) and so why shouldn't these brands protect their assets?

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