In a recent judgment, the First Instance Court of Athens held that the trade dress below for a painkiller medicine “SALOSPIR” does not violate rights in and to the “ASPIRIN” family of marks and trade dress. 

The Court recognized the reputation of the ASPIRIN product and its get up as a whole in Greece, but stated that such recognition does not extend to the color combination per se. It further ruled that the green / white combination is not unusual in the relevant type of products and mentioned that under relevant studies green is associated with pain relief.  Accordingly, on the basis of the different word indications, no infringement was found.

One should bear in mind that Greek case law on the matter has a good number of opposite examples and  decisions.

More generally, the level of protection afforded to a famous product and the  "distance" subsequent entrants to the market must keep from it makes this case, in our mind, a tough one to call. Still, our opinion is that the ability to claim exclusive rights in and to a color combination, under strict circumstance of course, cannot be called into question, nor can such a position be inferred from this judgment.