The Austrian Trademark Protection Law does not have provision for the registration of colors or combinations of colors. However, in Manz'sche Verlags v. Linde Verlag the Supreme Court has now ruled that use on products of a color previously established to identify the goods of another party may violate Section 9 of the Unfair Competition Act. The decision prohibited the defendant from publishing law books in the same shade of red as the plaintiff's legal treatises. The plaintiff had used a particular tone of red to distinguish a number of law books, including its edition of the Austrian Enforcement Act. When the defendant began publishing a version of the Enforcement Act in the same color, the plaintiff took action.

Relying on existing though sparse precedent, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court and held that color can be protected. However, for such protection to be accorded, the color must be used in relation to specific goods, and the courts must balance the distinguishing power of the color with the public's need for the color to remain available for use by everyone. If the distinguishing power of the color is weak and the public's need is strong, the company must prove that a large percentage of the market concerned identifies the color with a particular company and its products. In this case, more than 90% of the relevant market participants in a poll identified the particular shade of red with the plaintiff and its publications.

It is interesting to note that the defendant proved that a number of publishers in other countries, for example, in Germany, publish their law books in the same shade of red. The Supreme Court nevertheless held that the plaintiff was entitled to protection in Austria.