Kim Kardashian‘s pricey skin care line Skkn by Kim is facing its first lawsuit.
Just weeks after the reality star launched her $630 nine-step system in partnership with beauty giant Coty Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Black-owned aesthetician, Beauty Concepts, has filed a lawsuit against Kardashian and Coty over trademark infringement.
Beauty Concepts, owned by Cydnie Lunsford, sells skin care products and provides services out of its retail location in Brooklyn under the Skkn+ trademark and also sells skin care products through its website. The suit alleges that Beauty Concepts reached out to Kardashian and Coty to request that they abandon their plans to use a mark incorporating the most significant elements of Beauty Concepts’ mark Skkn+.
Kardashian and Coty were also put on notice of likelihood of confusion by the the United States Patent and Trademark Office when it issued Office Actions against several of the Skkn by Kim applications based on Beauty Concepts’ prior-filed application for its Skkn+ mark, according to the suit.
“The Kardashian/Coty Defendants did not cease and desist but, to the contrary, upon information and belief, willfully and deliberately chose to proceed with their plans to use the Skkn and Skkn by Kim brand in total disregard of Beauty Concepts’ superior trademark rights,” the suit claimed.
Beauty Concepts is seeking compensatory damages, statutory damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits, enhanced damages, and punitive damages.
Michael Rhodes, an attorney for Kardashian, said in a statement: “We applaud Ms. Lunsford for being a small business owner and following her dreams. But that doesn’t give her the right to wrongfully claim that we’ve done something wrong. In its letter, Beauty Concepts claimed to own rights to a logo made up of Skkn+, and had just filed for trademark protection for that logo.
“The business was a one-person shop offering facials from a single Brooklyn location. The salon had no signage and was by appointment only. To our knowledge, Beauty Concepts sold no products under the Skkn+ name,” he added.
Reps for Coty did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Hailey Bieber, who debuted her beauty brand Rhode on June 15, is also being sued for trademark infringement by Rhode, a Los Angeles-based contemporary apparel brand.
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