Jessica Alba claims there is honestly no confusion in trademark spat
Actress Jessica Alba has sued a cosmetics retailer after it sent her business venture The Honest Company a cease-and-desist letter over a skin lotion.
Cosmedicine had targeted Alba's company, which sells a range of goods including toxin-free skin products, last week.
The letter claimed that The Honest Company brand, which is used on a face and body lotion, and the name of the Honest Face lotion that Cosmedicine stocks were too similar.
But, in a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California on January 12, Alba’s company claimed there was no likelihood of confusion.
Santa Monica-based The Honest Company claimed that the two products would not be confused because they are aimed at different consumers and have significant price differences. The Honest Company’s lotion sells for $9.95, while Cosmedicine’s product sells for $65.
The complaint added that although Cosmedicine holds a trademark for ‘Honest Face’, the mark applies only to skin moisturiser whereas the product itself is marketed as a lotion.
The Honest Company, set up by Alba in 2012, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Cosmedicine could not be reached for comment.
Alba, 33, is known for her role in the 2005 film Sin City and also appeared in science-fiction TV series Dark Angel. She released a book in 2013 called The Honest Life, about her efforts as a mother to create a toxin-free household.
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