Suit filed against Lehi-based Purple Mattress over trademark rights to the color purple
- A Purple Mattress store is pictured Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, at University Place in Orem.
- This screen grab of court documents shows a SERSPER brand mattress.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald
A Purple Mattress store is pictured Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, at University Place in Orem.
A trademark dispute between Lehi-based Purple Mattress and a competing company over the use of the color purple has made its way to federal court.
Mattress competitor American Serleep Inc. filed a complaint against Purple Innovation Inc. on Jan. 13 at a U.S. District Court in South Carolina seeking a declaratory judgement of non-infringement so it can continue selling mattresses it argues have “plum-colored elements.”
The suit comes after Purple, which owns trademark registrations for the color purple for mattresses and seat cushions, allegedly contacted Home Depot to inform the retailer that products Serleep sold at Home Depot were violating Purple’s trademark rights.
According to court documents, Serleep was informed by Home Depot on July 24, 2024, that Purple Innovation Inc. made the trademark infringement allegations, saying Serleep’s use of the color purple for “several of its SERSPER brand products infringes on Purple’s rights.”
One product in question is a SERSPER brand mattress.

Courtesy image
This screen grab of court documents shows a SERSPER brand mattress.
Serleep contends it did not violate the two trademark registrations Purple claimed it infringed upon, arguing the ‘289 and ‘468 registrations did not “include a presumption that the Asserted Trade Dress has acquired distinctiveness,” and claims Purple’s ‘468 registration was canceled Nov. 22, 2024, for failure to timely file a renewal.
Court documents further state allegations made by Purple could result in a “potential removal of Plaintiff’s products from Home Depot’s sales channels” and could cause “significant financial harm” to Serleep.
Purple did not respond to the Daily Herald’s request for comment.
Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney and founder of trademark law firm Gerben IP, believes it is undisputed Purple has trademark rights to the word purple, but said extending those rights to the color itself presents challenges.
“Purple does have a registration for ancillary products to mattresses. They try to make this claim,” said Gerben, who has no involvement in the case. “Trademark law has really specific rules about claiming colors as trademarks. It’s actually very hard to get rights around a particular color, mainly because there’s only so many colors. And if you’re going to take the ability of someone to use a color away on a particular product, it has to be very specific.
“Serleep is saying, ‘Hey, you don’t own the color purple in any shade for mattresses. You just don’t have that kind of market penetration, and you don’t have those kinds of rights,'” Gerben added.
Founded in 2015 by Utah natives Tony and Terry Pearce, Purple Innovation Inc. is a publicly traded company with a market cap of over $109 million.
Purple states on its website patents and trademarks are an important part of the company, and it says it owns several dozen patents and trademarks for its products, which include mattresses, pillows, bed frames, cushions and more.
Houston Bragg, an attorney representing Serleep, estimated summons for the case will be issued within the next 30 days; Purple will then be given time to respond.