Due to the design limitations of manufacturing functional cereal boxes, companies tend to stress features on the boxes like color. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board reviewing General Mills’ application for trade dress protection of Cheerios yellow color stated, "Customers, accustomed to seeing numerous brands from different sources offered in yellow packaging, are unlikely to be conditioned to perceive yellow packaging as an indicator of a unique source…. Rather, they are more likely to view yellow packaging simply as eye-catching ornamentation customarily used for the packaging of breakfast cereals generally" (Kravets 2017). Josh explained that General Mills would have had more of a case if they had applied for trade dress protection much earlier when other companies were not using the yellow color. 

Although General Mills could not get the color yellow as a part of their cereal box trade dress, having a color as a trade dress is possible. The company Tiffany, which primarily is known for making jewelry, was able to get a specific shade of blue used for their packaging as a registered trade dress. The registration is described as featuring the color blue as an integral part of the jewelry packaging. This means that with the right conditions, color could be registered for cereal companies but perhaps the market is too diluted for a brand’s package color to stand out among the rest, especially with generic brands on the shelves.