John Deere Wins Law Suit

The green and yellow color combination will remain the intellectual  property of John Deere. That was the ruling of a District Court in Kentucky. John Deere sued a company in South Dakota,  Ag Spray Equipment that was selling their line of sprayers using the yellow and green color combination. John Deere claimed using the green and yellow color combination infringed on the John Deere Trademark, confused the public about where the equipment came from and diluted the John Deere Brand.

In our world of production agriculture the color of machinery and equipment represents the manufacturer. Red is Case IH, green and yellow John Deere, light blue New Holland, light yellow Challenger and Lexion combines, AGCO a very dark red. Back in the day orange was Allis Chalmers, very dark green Oliver and yellow was Minneapolis Moline. How this law suit turned out had little affect on me or other farmers. The color aside, we would know that John Deere green and yellow was different then Ag Spray Equipment green and yellow.

On the other hand maybe it is a sign that I am older. Tradition and customs mean something. So, maybe in a way I am pleased that green and yellow means John Deere. I have an idea, how about Ag Spray Equipment take the Allis Chalmers orange, or Oliver Green for a color of their equipment?