Jelly bean maker sues cosmetics company over TM
Confectionary producer Jelly Belly has sued a US-based cosmetics company over a face mask product that allegedly features ‘Jelly Belly’ trademarks.
The case was filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday, May 30.
It alleged that DK Cosmetics sells a face mask in which “the advertising and packaging bears marks that are identical to, substantially indistinguishable from, colourable imitations of, and/or confusingly similar to the Jelly Belly trademarks”.
Jelly Belly is the owner of numerous ‘Jelly Belly’ trademarks, including marks where the logo is printed on a jelly bean, for a variety of confectionary.
It also owns trademarks for ‘Jelly Belly’ for other products such as nail polish, bath products and clothing which are sold through its online store.
The Jelly Belly mark has been in use since 1976, according to the claim.
The allegedly infringing face masks are sold in several places including Amazon, Walmart and Urban Outfitters.
Called ‘Soo Ae Nature Collagen’, the box for the face mask features an image of pink jellybeans as the background with the DK Cosmetics logo and information in the bottom left hand corner.
Jelly Belly stated in the claim that it had sent a cease-and-desist letter in August to DK Cosmetics and received a confirmation of receipt from DK Cosmetic’s counsel, only for the company to continue to sell the face mask.
The sweet maker added that the sale of the product constitutes “wilful and intentional infringements of Jelly Belly’s registered marks with the intent to trade upon Jelly Belly’s reputation and goodwill by causing confusion and mistake among customers”.
Jelly Belly is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, an order to destroy the infringing products, damages and a jury trial.
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