Hailey Bieber‘s new skincare company Rhode Skin is being sued for trademark infringement.
The 25 year old launched her new beauty brand featuring vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and fragrance-free products last week, and the line saw immense success straight away.
However, just a week after its launch, Hailey is now embroiled in a lawsuit by a fashion label named Rhode, co-founded by Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers.
Lawyer Lisa Simpson, representing the brand, said in a statement: “Ms. Bieber launched a beauty skin-care line using the same exact brand as Rhode. She did this despite knowing of Rhode and its prior rights. Ms. Bieber tried to buy the RHODE mark from Rhode four years ago.”
The statement continued: “This is a textbook case of reverse confusion, in which a massive junior trademark user threatens to trample a smaller senior user’s market.”
Simpson also acknowledged that while Rhode is Hailey’s middle name, “the law on this is clear: You can’t create this kind of brand confusion just because you want to use your name.”
In a further statement shared on Rhode clothing’s Instagram account, co-founders Purna and Phoebe wrote: “We’re two women entrepreneurs who met in college, built the RHODE brand, and put years of hard work into our minority co-owned company.
“Today, we were forced to file a lawsuit against Hailey Bieber and her new skincare line. We didn’t want to file this lawsuit, but we had to in order to protect our business.”
They continued: “Hailey could choose any brand for her skincare line. We have only the brand name “RHODE” that we’ve built. That’s why we didn’t sell her our brand when she asked four years ago, and why we ask her now to change her skincare lines brand.
“While a global brand we are still a young and global company, and we cannot overcome a celebrity with Hailey’s following using our company’s name to sell related products.”
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Ending on an optimistic note, they added: “We don’t want to sue Hailey; we want to celebrate her,” wrote the Rhode clothing founders. As fellow women entrepreneurs, we wish her every success. Hailey has hard-earned star power and influence.”
Despite the lawsuit, a source has told TMZ that Hailey does, in fact, hold the trademark for Rhode Skincare, while the fashion label holds the trademark for the clothing range. Glamour UK has contacted Rhode Skin for comment.