Qualitex Co. produces pads that dry-cleaning firms use on their presses. Since the 1950s, Qualitex has colored its press pads a shade of green-gold. In 1989, Jabcobson Products Co. began producing press pads for sale to dry-cleaning firms. Jacobson colored its pads a green-gold resembling the shade used by Qualitex. Later in 1989, the United States Patent & Trademark Office granted Qualitex a trademark registration for the green-gold color (as used on press pads). Qualitex then added a trademark infringement claim to an unfair competition lawsuit it had previously filed against Jacobson. Qualitex won the case, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals set aside the judgment on the trademark infringement claim. In the Ninth Circuit's view, the Lanham Act did not allow any party to have color alone registered as a trademark.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari. How did the Supreme Court rule on the question whether color is a registrable trademark?