Hailey Bieber Sued For Trademark Infringement After ‘Rhode’ Launch!
Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : June 22, 2022Hailey Baldwin is being sued for infringement of trademark by a 9-year-old fashion brand that has the same name as Bieber’s skincare line, Rhode, that is, the middle name of Bieber.
According to documents, Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers, the co-founders of the Rhode apparel company, filed the lawsuit against the 25-year-old model on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Hailey Bieber Sued For Trademark Infringement After Launching ‘Rhode’ Skincare Line!!
The company was founded in May 2013 by Khatau and Vickers, according to the filing, and they had committed themselves to growing and nurturing the Rhode brand through tremendous personal sacrifice and struggle since then.
Currently recognized as a trusted brand available in luxury retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, it is the favorite brand of stars such as Beyonce, Rihanna, and Mindy Kaling. According to the proceedings, Rhode is expected to earn $ 14.5 million this year.
Some popular clothing and accessories include the Rhode brand owned by Khatau and Vickers. According to Khatau, they are also submitting applications to expand into other markets like household goods and are considering the same in cosmetics and skin care.
Prior to the beginning of this month, when Bieber debuted her Rhode skincare line, Khatau claims that she and Vickers noticed “confusion in the marketplace,” which has already harmed their company.
“Because it has been suspended due to Instagram’s regulations, Instagram has chosen to allow Bieber to use it even though it was not published until June 8, 2022, after it was first shown,” the actions said. Claims promised first. Point the Rhode handle at the stylist.
A shared Instagram post with Justin Bieber’s personal account, which has more than 45 million followers, is also mentioned in the complaint. At the time of posting, this post had garnered more than 600,000 likes.
Justin Bieber, 28, who has 243 million followers on Instagram, also marketed his wife’s business there. According to court documents, his post received more than a million likes.
According to the lawsuit, when sharing photos of celebrities wearing plaintiff clothing brands, consumers turned to @rhyode’s Instagram account instead of @shoprhode‘s official account.
In this case, Khatau claims, “We have serious worries about the future.” “This brand has been the result of years of blood, sweat, and tears. I find it sad that a businesswoman that we have long admired is attempting to stifle what we have accomplished.”
Vickers said in a statement that Haley had previously expressed a desire to turn Rudd into a lifestyle brand and that Haley responded to a TikTok fan who asked him if he would offer Rudd clothing: “Clothes are coming.”
According to court filings, Vickers and Khatau requested a preliminary injunction directing Hailey to stop using the name “Rhode” for her brand. The duo also requested that she rename her skincare business to avoid future misunderstandings, according to a statement provided.
The company stated in the statement that “the brand Rhode is all we have worked hard to create, and her utilizing our name is damaging our company, our employees, our customers, and our partners.”
The co-founders claimed Hailey Bieber tried to buy the rights to the name from them four years ago, but they declined.
Sadly, brand confusion has not been avoided by Hailey’s current concentration on skin care while our focus is on fashion, and it won’t be in the future, according to Vickers and Khatau. “Fashion and cosmetics closely converge here, and we frequently work together as part of a bigger beauty market.”
“Haley has announced that she wants to launch a clothing line and has signed up for the clothing brand ‘Rhode’,” they said. We don’t want competitors using our name, but we do encourage competition.
The scenario is “unfortunate,” according to Lisa T. Simpson, the apparel company’s attorney, in a separate statement.
She said the law was clear. Just wanting to use your name shouldn’t cause this kind of trademark confusion. “Of course, we understand that Haley wants to use her middle name for her own brand,” she added. “Mr. Pepper hurt a minority-owned company that two women painstakingly built into a growing global brand,” the authors say.
However, an inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Rhode or a representative for Hailey.
With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.