Owens Corning Pink
Trademark: Owens Corning Pink Color
First Used: 1956
First Registered: 1987
Current Owner: OWENS CORNING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL, LLC [1]
Trademark Type: non-traditional trademark; trade dress; color mark
Primarily Associated With: insulation for use in building and construction
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [2]:
The Owens Corning Pink Color is a significant piece of trademark history – it was the first single color mark ever registered in the United States! Both the color mark, and the word mark PINK®, are registered trademarks still used in connection with insulating materials today.
The rise of central heating in the early 20th century prompted homeowners to look to insulation to save on fuel costs. In the 1930s, two glass manufacturers, Corning Glass and Owens-Illinois, joined together as Owens Corning to create a new type of insulation that used tiny fibers of glass: fiberglass.
Fiberglass insulation quickly became a hit, and Owens Corning began facing intense competition from other fiberglass manufacturers. There are a few versions of the story, including either an accident or a request by the sales department, but no matter the origin, in the 1950s the company began to add red dye to the naturally tan or yellowish insulation to distinguish it from their rivals’ products. The resulting pink colored insulation quickly became a huge hit with customers.
In 1980, Owens Corning adopted the Pink Panther cartoon character as the official mascot for their Pink colored insulation. 40+ years later, the iconic mascot is still appearing in ads and has become inextricably connected to the brand. While it may be debatably whether the pink insulation or the Pink Panther is more famous today, it is undeniable that they form an iconic combination!
Copyright © 2024 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] Owens Corning, https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us.
[2] Our History, OWENS CORNING, https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us/corporate/our-history; Equipped for the Inevitable: The Owens Corning Story, LUMINAS, posted July 27, 2023, and available at https://luminasstrategy.com/blog/2023/07/27/equipped-for-the-inevitable-the-owens-corning-story/; Owens Corning Marks 40 Years With MGM’s Pink Panther, OWENS CORNING, posted August 17, 2020, and available at https://newsroom.owenscorning.com/all-news-releases/news-details/2020/Owens-Corning-Marks-40-Years-With-MGMs-Pink-Panther/; In the Pink, Science History Institute Museum & Library, posted December 23, 2014, and available at https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/in-the-pink/.
[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,885,949, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85016615&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,439,132, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73247707&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,090,588, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75050728&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,380,445, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75544715&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,349,499, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75544722&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,380,742, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75639297&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,695,673, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78018788&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,165,001, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78724143&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,128,046, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85306082&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,859,937, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88771423&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.