Kardashian clan in trade mark troubles once again

The Kardashian family and their half siblings, the Jenner sisters, have had a rough time of it lately in the IP world.

They are having trade mark troubles all over the place.

Firstly, Kim Kardashian has been sued by a Danish make-up artist for the use of her initials, KKW.

The claim has been made by Kirsten Kjaer Weis who has used the ‘KW’ stylised mark since 2010 for cosmetics and beauty products. She also owns a US trade mark for cosmetics.

Weis has taken issue with Kardashian’s new line of cosmetics and beauty products launched as the ‘KKW Beauty’ line through her company Kimsaprincess.  The name represents Kim’s own initials which include West at the end following her marriage to rapper Kanye West.

The claim states that Kardashian’s brand is in direct competition with Weis’s business and due to Kim’s fame there will be a likelihood of confusion in relation to the earlier registered trade mark being owned by Kim’s company.

This found in Weis’s favour, this could be costly for Kardashian as Weis is looking to recover damages, fees and costs, as well as an injunction to prevent the continuation of the brand.

Also, half sister Kylie Jenner has been in the receiving end of a claim this week, where artist Sarah Pope claims that Kylie has infringed her copyright in her work named ‘Temptation Neon’ in the promotion for Jenner’s new reality show.

The work is a pair of lips surrounded in a neon light.

In a double whammy for Jenner, her and sister Kendall have received public backlash and a number of claims regarding a new line of t shirts which have pictures of music legends on the front. It has been claimed that permission was not granted for the use of these images and the sisters are exploiting the market by charging $125 per t shirt.

The Kardashian/ Jenner lawyers are going to be busy over the next couple of months.

If you have any trade mark related questions, feel free to contact The Trademarkroom team.

By Ellis Sweetenham