It has been an interesting month for seemingly normal concepts gaining an official seal of approval. Brand consultants Blue Marlin have designed a trademark and brand identity for ‘Bore Off!’, a popular catchphrase. Last week, Cadbury won a legal battle against competitor Nestle for sole use of the colour purple, which is now trademarked.

Bore Off began life as a hashtag and quickly gained traction in the media and in popular culture. Blue Marlin’s design reimagines the classic smiley faced emoticon and will feature on t-shirts and other merchandise available on the new boreoff.com.

Blue Marlin’s creative director Simon Pendry says, “We had set requirements in mind for ‘Bore Off!’ The design needed to be inexhaustibly versatile, universally unmistakable, and smirk inducing.”

Cadbury, on the other hand, has secured a trademark for what is now known as Cadbury Purple, but does not want to trademark all 50 shades of purple. Nestle appealed the application for a trademark of Pantone 2685c, but the high court in London overruled the appeal, granting a trademark to Cadbury Purple.