Jessica Alba’s Honest Company is back in the legal spotlight. This time, instead of facing a lawsuit brought against it, the company has decided to sue the “makers of a baby doll for allegedly infringing on its brand name and floral pattern.” The lawsuit itself was filed against the “Delaware firm JAKKS Pacific of trying to make people think their line of Honestly Cute toddler toys and strollers are associated with them.” Additionally, according to the lawsuit, “a floral design used in their packaging is too similar to one the Honest Company has trademarked.”
Jessica Alba’s Honest Company is back in the legal spotlight. This time, instead of facing a lawsuit brought against it, the company has decided to sue the “makers of a baby doll for allegedly infringing on its brand name and floral pattern.” The lawsuit itself was filed against the “Delaware firm JAKKS Pacific of trying to make people think their line of Honestly Cute toddler toys and strollers are associated with them.” Additionally, according to the lawsuit, “a floral design used in their packaging is too similar to one the Honest Company has trademarked.”
So what does Jessica Alba’s company hope to gain by filing the lawsuit? Well, it is “demanding that JAKKS change the brand name, redesign its packaging, and is also asking for damages.”
This isn’t the first time the Honest Company has been in the legal spotlight, though. For those who don’t know, the company “also sued the Honest Herbal medical marijuana product company for intentionally using a similar name to boost sales” back in September. According to that particular lawsuit, Honest Company claimed that Honest Herbal wanted to “confuse consumers and profit from the goodwill and consumer recognition associated with The Honest Co.’s HONEST Marks.” For example, the Honest Company has a popular line of face and body lotion made with natural, good for you ingredients. Honest Herbal also had a line of natural, good for you “creams, lotions, and supplements.” As a result, the Honest Company was worried that with so many similarities, consumers would become confused between the two brands. At the end of the day that lawsuit alleged “trademark infringement, unfair competition, and other counts,” and sought unspecified damages.”
Earlier this year the company was in the legal spotlight for other matters as well. However, in those cases the Honest Company was on the receiving end of allegations that its products weren’t as natural and pure as the company advertised them to be. For example, the company settled a lawsuit in New York that claimed it “fraudulently labeled dozens of home and personal care products as natural, plant-based or chemical-free.” That particular lawsuit was filed by Brad Buonasera. In his lawsuit, he accused Honest of “misleadingly marketing at least 41 items including bubble bath, children’s toothpaste, floor cleaners, laundry detergent, and soap.” According to the lawsuit, Buonasera asserted that many Honest Company products “were labeled natural, all natural, naturally derived, plant-based and no harsh chemicals, but actually contained a spectacular array of synthetic and toxic ingredients.”
Additionally, Alba’s company was sued by a customer back in 2015 who claimed “its sunscreen doesn’t work and isn’t really natural,” and in 2016 the “Organic Consumers Association filed a suit claiming that Honest baby formula contains ingredients that aren’t really organic.”
Sources:
Jessica Alba’s Honest Company Goes After Hemp Line in Trademark Lawsuit
Jessica Alba’s Honest Co Settles Second Labeling Lawsuit
If you bought Honest Company detergent, you could score a refund
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