NEW YORK (AP) – Two former college roommates who created a successful clothing line under the Rhode brand sued model Hailey Bieber on Tuesday, saying she was creating confusion by launching a skincare line under the name Rhode.
The Manhattan Federal Court case asked a judge to cite trademark infringement and block Bieber from selling or marketing any products called Rhode. Unspecified damages are also requested.
The lawsuit says court intervention was necessary as Hailey Bieber is a celebrity with more than 45 million Instagram followers who launched their skincare line last week and applied for trademarks for clothing.
Hailey Bieber is married to singer Justin Bieber, and the lawsuit says her husband promoted her business to his 243 million Instagram followers, generating 1.5 million likes in a single post. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Purna Hathau and Phoebe Vickers are seeking to protect the business they started in 2014, when they left their daily jobs to create a line of high-end clothing and accessories aimed at “feminine, confident and well-traveled women.”
Since then, their products have been said to be featured in Vogue, worn in stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus around the world and worn by celebrities including Beyonce, Mindy Kaling and Rihanna. Sales are expected to reach $ 14.5 million this year, the lawsuit said.
On the day her product was released, Hailey Bieber told Forbes history that she had a “really hard time” with “a media world that likes to perpetuate women against women,” the lawsuit said.
“But the reality is that the ‘media world’ that Mrs Bieber describes is at her disposal. And she chose to use it to crush a brand, a co-founder of a woman and a minority that simply can’t compete with her immense fame and followers, “the lawsuit said.
When her product line was released on June 15, Hailey Bieber appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit says the confusion and damage to the brand, started by Khatau and Vickers, is now widespread and only took days, while some consumers believe the 8-year-old is trading in the name of the new competitor instead. – AP
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