A PINK Hip Implant Cannot be Trademarked

Ok, then.

In trademark news…the United States Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruled that the color pink cannot be trademarked for a hip implant. The winning company was Grand Junction, Colorado-based CoorsTek Bioceramics LLC (formerly C5 Medical Werks, LLC) and the losing company was Plochingen, Germany based CeramTec GmbH.

For eight years CoorsTek Bioceramics (a wholly owned subsidiary of CoorsTek, Inc.) and CeramTec have been engaged in legal battles both in the United States and abroad over, per the TTAB Opinion, “whether the color pink as applied to a composition for hip joint implant parts is functional.”

CeramTec manufactures and develops advanced ceramic components. Its pink BIOLOX^® delta ceramics account for most of its hip implant component sales. According to the TTAB, CeramTec claims “components made with the BIOLOX delta compound have a superior mechanical performance and lower fracture rates than components made with the BIOLOX forte compound.” The BIOLOX forte composition “features pure alumina ceramic.” It presents as cream, ivory, or beige in color.

CoorsTek Bioceramics also manufactures ceramics for the medical device industry. It too has pink ceramics. Notably, its CeraSurf^®-p, “a material that contains chromium oxide, which renders it pink.” CoorsTek Bioceramics claims that almost all of its customers buy CeraSurf-p instead of CeraSurf-w because “CeraSurf-p contains chromium oxide (which Petitioner [CoorsTek Bioceramics] contends the marketplace understands to improve the performance-related properties of the material), while CeraSurf-w does not.” CeraSurf-w is white and does not contain chromium oxide.

CoorsTek Bioceramics began the legal proceedings when CeramTec tried to enforce its claimed trademark and trade dress in the color pink for its ceramic hip implant components. In the TTAB Opinion, the TTAB found “that the color pink (caused by the addition of chromia) of the compound used to make ceramic hip implant components” is functional. Thus, it held that the color pink for the identified goods in CeramTec’s trademark registrations is “functional and therefore unregistrable.”

In the press release, CoorsTek CEO Jonathan Coors commented, “Recent global events have cast a bright light on the dangers of singular or limited supply sources in key markets.”

Coors continued, “This decision will not only ensure a consistent supply of crucial components, it will foster competition, drive innovation, and enable efficiencies in the surgical marketplace—ultimately benefitting patients receiving critical medical care.”

CeramTec can file an appeal of the TTAB trademark cancellation order. The appeal deadline is in February 2023.

For OTW’s coverage of the ongoing dispute, see “EU Court Rules CoorsTek’s Implants Can Remain Pretty in Pink” and “Pink Hip Implant Battle: The Grand Finale.”