Green gridlock

You knew it had to happen - too many businesses filing for green-related trademarks that look or sound the same. All told, 300,000 were registered last year with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, beating the previous all-time high of 289,000 that was set during the dot-com craze in 2000. The actual word "green" wound up in 2,400 trademark applications last year, double the number from 2006. "Eco" and "organic" also had big years. Among the others:

--Clean: 900 applications, up from 800
--Earth: 900 applications, up from from 550
--Environment: 450 applications, up from 325

Glenn Gundersen, chair of the trademark Group at law firm Dechert LLP really got into this green business in a recent report. Here is the cynicism and unoriginality of the marketing business at work:

Some businesses tried to expand the color palette, only to find that they too had company–four different applicants sought trademark registration for GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK for apparel or tote bags, and two different companies filed for BLUE IS THE NEW GREEN, one for irrigation systems and the other for water conservation publications. A similar theme appeared in applications for BLUE IS GREEN (for seafood), WHERE BLUE MEETS GREEN (natural gas), BLUE WATER FOR A GREEN WORLD (wastewater treatment), RED STATES, BLUE STATES, GREEN STATES (television programs), and BLUE GREEN & BEYOND (filed by Bed Bath & Beyond).