[dangrossman]

There is no such patent; no patent assigned to Nike contains the word "maize", and Google finds nothing to corroborate this story but an opinion piece in a Michigan newspaper about a rumored copyright being the reason the team changed its colors. Neither copyright nor patent can give ownership rights in a color.

[HarryHirsch]

Neither copyright nor patent can give ownership rights in a color.

Under EU law one can register a color as a trademark, provided it's a distinguishing mark. I think that's fair. Deutsche Telekom have been using magenta on their outlets ever since they started, people think "Magenta" whenever the name is mentioned, and I guess even you would stop a second if another phone company painted their outlets that color.

[james_madison]

> Neither copyright nor patent can give ownership rights in a color.

A color can be a trademark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_trademark

[sporkologist]

(trademarks and copyrights) ≠ (patents)