John Deere Green and Yellow Configuration

Non-Traditional TMs
Written By Justin Powley
Cartoon stick figure driving a green and yellow tractor labeled “John Deere®” — representing the John Deere Green and Yellow configuration mark.

Trademark: JOHN DEERE® Green and Yellow

First Used: 1905

First Registered: October 1983

Current Owner: DEERE & COMPANY [1]

Trademark Type:  non-traditional trademark; trade dress; configuration mark

Primarily Associated With: tractors and agricultural equipment

Brief (and likely incomplete) History: [2]

Early John Deere® equipment was painted in different colors, often black or unpainted metal. The official adoption of green and yellow began in the early 20th century. By around 1910, the company started to standardize its colors to enhance brand recognition.

The iconic green and yellow colors of John Deere were allegedly chosen for their symbolic connection to agriculture. As the story goes, green was chosen to symbolize the growing crops and fields, reflecting the agricultural focus of the company, and yellow was selected to represent the harvest-ready crops and the fertile soil, symbolizing the productivity and prosperity that John Deere equipment brings to farmers. While there are a few different origin stories, one popular story is that John Deere’s wife was the driving force behind selecting the green and yellow colors.

The practicality of green, which is less likely to show dirt, and the striking contrast provided by yellow, also made the equipment easily recognizable and established a strong brand identity. Over the years, the green and yellow colors have become synonymous with John Deere, symbolizing reliability and quality in agricultural machinery.

Copyright © 2024 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.

[1] John Deere, https://www.deere.com/en/.

[2] A History of Resounding Impact, John Deere, available at https://about.deere.com/en-us/explore-john-deere/history-heritage; John Deere’s Iconic Colors, All Aboard Wheat Harvest, posted June 5, 2019, and available at https://allaboardharvest.com/2019/06/05/janel-john-deeres-iconic-colors/.

[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,254,339, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73357211&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,296,442, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73423790&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,503,576, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73574301&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,502,103, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73574308&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,546,541, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73732301&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,132,124, available a https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78572285&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,088, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85015444&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,089, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85015446&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,090, available https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85015473&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,091, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85015482&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[13] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,094, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85016834&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[14] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,095, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85016849&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[15] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,854,018, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85016882&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[16] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,854,019, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85016909&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[17] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,854,020, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85016941&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[18] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,857,098, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85017215&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[19] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,854,025, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85030881&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[20] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,854,026, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85030950&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[21] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,877,113, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85039833&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[22] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,877,114, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85039856&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[23] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,964,878, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85039893&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[24] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,964,879, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85039921&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[25] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,864,648, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85042849&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[26] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,969,180, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85043734&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[27] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,084,100, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85403423&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[28] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,084,101, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85403459&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[29] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,084,102, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85403506&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[30] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,084,104, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85404464&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[31] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,084,105, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85404554&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

Justin Powley
Previous

Law & Order Dun-Dun Sound
Next

John Deere