Court pulls up Bieber on charges of Trademark Infringement

What Happened?

Recently, Model Hailey Bieber has been in the limelight because a lawsuit was filed against her skincare line business Rhodes launder, earlier this month. The plaintiff, Rhodes, a clothing brand, has sued Beiber for infringing its brand by using a similar brand name. This is a classic case of Trademark Infringement.

Rhodes, the clothing brand, is a 9-year-old fashion company that shares the name with the skincare line Rhode of Hailey Beiber. The clothing brand founders have accused Beiber of creating market confusion by selling its skincare line under their registered brand name.

The co-founders also said that Hailey attempted to buy the rights to the name from them four years ago, but they declined.

Since the brand name used by the defendant, Hailey, was registered by the plaintiffs before she embarked on the skincare business, one can say that it is a clear case of Trademark Infringement. The court has sent summon to Hailey to submit a response to the allegation.  

Why did this confusion happen?

This escalation has developed because of the uncaring attitude on the part of Hailey Beiber. She chose a registered brand name for her business without conducting the necessary background checks. She could have hired a legal professional to conduct Trademark Search on her brand name. But she chose not to.

Also, in the past, she attempted to purchase the rights and entitlement of the ‘Rhodes’ Trademark from their owner. If the owners had agreed to that, then both parties could have collectively opted for the Trademark Assignment procedure.

The Trademark Assignment procedure allows the owner of an existing trademark to transfer parts of or the whole of trademark rights to another company on mutually agreed terms. But in this case, the owner was unwilling to trade its mark with Hailey. Nevertheless, Hailey anyway went ahead by utilizing the brand name.

What are the repercussions of this act?

Since Hailey has been accused of counterfeiting the clothing line brand, therefore the court can initiate disciplinary actions against her. First, the court will summon her to submit her response to the lawsuit against her skincare company Rhodes.

There is a good chance that after hearing from both parties, the court will rule in favor of the Clothing Brand Rhodes. Hailey might have to change her brand logo and pay a penalty fee as directed by the District Court.

Are we at risk of committing Trademark Infringement?

That depends on various factors. Even after doing all the right things, one is susceptible to committing such an offense. Suppose a registered trademark is not in use for years. And a new company registers for a trademark that is, in any capacity, similar to the dormant Trademark. In that case, an act of infringement has been committed. Or if during the period of Trademark publication, the owner of a convincingly similar registered trademark does not raise opposition to the published one, then, with no fault on the part of the latter, an infringement has been committed.

But the court, in case a lawsuit is filed, will give a chance to hear the defendant before announcing its final decision.

How to safeguard our business against such Trademark infringement cases?

The only thing you can do to fix things right is to start right. Whenever any business wants to register its chosen Trademark, it must hire a Trademark consultant or professional who will aid them in the registration process.

Registrationwala: your go-to Trademark Consultant

As one of the leading trademark experts in the country, we, the Registrationwalas, provide the following services to our clients:

• They will conduct a Trademark Search on your logo.
• Suggest the necessary changes, if needed, to make it unique and distinctive from the other trademarks.
• Furnish the required documents, and file the application for trademark registration on your behalf.
• Submit the application to the Authorities. Afterward, if the examiner raises an objection, draft a suitable reply and submit it to the authorities.
• Upon satisfaction, the authorities will publish the trademark in the journal for others to assess it. In case any company raises an opposition during the published period, we will accordingly prepare a reply and submit it to the court. We will also attend court summons on your behalf to resolve the issue with the opposition party.
• Finally, when the publication period ends, we will deliver you the Trademark.

So, reach out to us if you have any issues regarding trademarks.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.