Kim Kardashian is facing a lawsuit for SKKN and SKKN by Kim. Image Source: Allure
Kim Kardashian is facing a lawsuit for SKKN and SKKN by Kim.
Kim Kardashian is reportedly facing legal action for her new skincare brands SKKN and SKKN by KIM because 'Beauty Concepts' claims that she has willfully violated a pre-existing trademark name and logo. A modest cosmetics business called Beauty Concepts is situated in Brooklyn and is owned by Cydnie Lunsford stating that Beauty Concepts is a Black-owned company that works to guarantee that its services are primarily geared at Black women and other women of color, who have historically been neglected, left out, and devalued by the beauty industry.
In the complaint submitted on Tuesday by Beauty Concepts it was claimed that they had been using the brand name SKKN+ since August 2018 and had contacted Kim Kardashian and Coty, the cosmetics manufacturer that collaborates with the reality TV star on her line. The owner of Beauty Concepts claims in the case that Kim and Coty did not stop using the SKKN and SKKN BY KIM trademarks, but rather that they purposefully and knowingly decided to do so in complete contempt of Beauty Concepts' superior trademark rights.
According to Beauty Concepts, Kim Kardashian and Coty have quickly achieved enormous economic success and brand recognition with the items offered under the SKKN BY KIM brand by leveraging their popularity. Cydnie Lunsford said her company has used the SKKN+ Marks in conjunction with providing upscale salon services and goods offered both offline and online since 2018 which also saw the launch of the company's Instagram profile and the URL www.skknplus.com, with the first post featuring the SKKN+ logo and promoting skincare products.
Michael Rhodes, Kim Kardashian's attorney, talked to Entertainment Tonight and refuted all the claims stated in Beauty Concepts' complaint. Kim Kardashian's attorney said that SKKN by KIM is a new company that imitates Kim Kardashian's well-known KKW range of products and that the case is not what it first appears to be. SKKN by KIM was registered as a trademark by Kim Kardashian's company in order to protect the newly branded products.
The reality TV star's attorney went on to tell the outlet that Beauty Concepts' lawsuit is just a swindle and that while they admire Cydnie Lunsford for running a small business and pursuing her ambitions, it in no way gives her the right to falsely accuse them of doing something illegal. According to Michael Rhodes, Beauty Concepts claimed ownership of an SKKN+-based logo in the letter and had just applied for trademark protection for it on 28th March 2021.
He went on to add that the business was run by a single individual from a single Brooklyn location, and it offered facials.The lawyer for Kim Kardashian said that according to them the Beauty Concepts does not now carry any SKKN+ products, all sales are by appointment only, and that the salon's owner had requested Coty and Kim Kardashian to discontinue the SKKN brand but they had refused. As a result, Beauty Concepts filed a USPTO opposition to Kim Kardashian's trademark registrations. It should come as no surprise that the USPTO denied the SKKN+ mark submitted by Beauty Concepts, claiming that "'skkn' merely means' skin."
On March 30, 2021, Kim Kardashian submitted a request for permission to use the slogan SKKN BY KIM for a variety of products, including skin care products. The reality personality registered for the trademark SKKN alone in July of the following year for use in skincare products without any specific style, according to a USPTO filing. On June 21 2022, Kim Kardashian publicly unveiled her SKKN BY KIM collection.
Undeterred, according to Michael Rhodes, Beauty Concepts allegedly sought to make the company appear more successful than it was by renting a new storefront, updating its website, etc. He emphasized that just because a Brooklyn-based small skincare company owns a major skincare brand doesn't mean it can shut it down and that they had made multiple attempts to get in touch with Beauty Concepts to work out a mutually agreeable coexistence. Beauty Concepts finally disregarded them after making a big demand for money and would keep their job because they hadn't done anything illegal.
Beauty Concepts asks the court to grant them penalties, including but not limited to, monetary damages, civil liability, reparations, disgorgement of profits, increased damages, punitive damages, prejudgment, and post-judgment interest and demands that this case is tried before a jury.
In this case, it is also demanded that Kim Kardashian and Coty should pay for and undertake a campaign of remedial advertising, disgorge its ill-gotten revenues, and withdraw all USPTO trademark registrations including SKKN or SKKN BY KIM. Kim Kardashian's lawyer said in a statement to ET that they think the litigation is less about the law of trademarks and more about trying to negotiate a settlement by threatening to destroy Kim Kardashian's brand and reputation. He added that they are looking forward to presenting their argument in court because they know that they did nothing wrong.
