In 2019 after years of proceedings, Red Bull was told by the European Court that the silver-blue colour combination could not be protected as a trademark.
The colour blue of Nivea remains protected as a trademark in Germany. Unilever, which had started a procedure 10 years ago to overrule Nivea’s colour brand registration, last year unexpectedly decided to stop the procedure. This means that Beiersdorf, the company behind Nivea, retains the protection of the colour blue for creams.