Blue Cross & Blue Shield Ass'n v. American Express Co.

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

For many years, American Express has offered credit cards in the color of money. When it added a blue card during the 1990s, trademark litigation erupted. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association uses a blue card (with a registered “Blue Card” service mark) for its insurance and related health-care products; it maintained that American Express’s blue card would be confused with its offerings. A settlement was reached in 2000: American Express acknowledged the Association’s senior rights in the term “Blue Card” and promised not to use the word “Blue” in connection…