Hailey Bieber is being sued for trademark infringement over her skincare line, Rhode.
As of June 22, the 25-year-old is being sued for trademark infringement over her newly launched skincare line, Rhode, (also her middle name), of which also shares the same namesake as a fashion company formed in 2013, per court documents.
Hailey Bieber Is Being Sued For Trademark Infringement By Business Who Claims She Tried To Purchase Their Brand In The Past
The fashion company’s founders, Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers state that “there is no doubt that Ms. Bieber and her companies know of Rhode’s superior rights,” according to the complaint, which was filed in New York.
“Indeed, [Ms. Bieber] previously sought to acquire the RHODE mark, appreciating that the brands could not co-exist without confusion,” the document notes.
“Given the sacrifices they had made to build the brand, Khatau and Vickers refused. The RHODE brand is their most important asset. But Ms. Bieber, who could surely leverage her fame into success with a different-branded beauty line, apparently does not care that two other women entrepreneurs have been using the RHODE brand name for years.”
RELATED: Alec Baldwin’s Mom And Hailey Bieber’s Grandmother Passes Away At 92
In their complaint, the pair also cited that Bieber “blared out” her brand’s promotion to her “45 million Instagram plus followers, 9.2 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million followers on YouTube,” which “will quickly swamp Rhode’s market presence, confuse the marketplace and ultimately destroy the goodwill and reputation of the RHODE brand.”
The company’s co-founders also shared a statement to their brand’s social media on June 21. “Nine years ago, we quit our jobs and founded Rhode out of our apartment, creating a fashion company from nothing,” their statement, shared to Instagram, read.
“We’re two women entrepreneurs who met in college, built the RHODE brand, and put years of hard work into our minority co-owned company.”
They continued, “Today, we were forced to file a lawsuit against Hailey Bieber and her new skin-care line that launched last week and that is using the brand ‘rhode.’ We didn’t want to file this lawsuit, but we had to in order to protect our business.”
Admitting that they “admire” the model and “want to celebrate her,” the statement continued.
“We have only the brand name ‘RHODE’ that we’ve built. That’s why we didn’t sell her our brand when she asked four years ago, and why we ask her now to change her skin-care line’s brand. Her using our brand is hurting our company, our employees, our customers, and our partners.”
Adding that they’re “confident in the lawsuit’s outcome,” they concluded their statement, “We hope Hailey will now understand the harm we’re sure she never meant to cause and change her skin-care line’s brand. Thank you to everyone for valuing our vision and supporting us.”
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.