Laura Geller, Chinese Cosmetics Co. Clash Over Beauty Dupes

Laura Geller, Chinese Cosmetics Co. Clash Over Beauty Dupes

A new trademark fight over beauty product dupes is under way in federal court in New York. In the complaint that it filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 6, AS Beauty Group LLC, the parent company of beauty brand Laura Geller, alleges that Guangzhou Aolimei Cosmetics Co., Ltd., a China-based cosmetics company, is running afoul of the law by way of its sale of beauty products that rip-off the trademark-protected name and packaging of two of Laura Geller’s most prominent products: its BALANCE-N-BRIGHTEN® color-correcting foundation and BRONZE-N-BRIGHTEN® multipurpose bronzer.

Setting the stage in its complaint, AS Beauty claims that since its founding in 1997, Laura Geller has become “synonymous with high-quality makeup, cosmetics and beauty care products,” including its BALANCE-N-BRIGHTEN® and BRONZE-N-BRIGHTEN® products, which it offers up under the aforementioned product names and in distinctive product packaging. 

Against that background and in light of the commercial success of the Laura Geller products, AS Beauty alleges that “rather than developing its own product lines through the expenditure of its own marketing and creative efforts,” Guangzhou Aolimei Cosmetics has “built a substantial component of its business by marketing … products that are obviously imitative of those that Laura Geller has long sold.” In particular, it contends that Guangzhou Aolimei Cosmetics is currently selling two products – its own BALANCE-N-BRIGHTEN foundation and its BRONZER-N-BRIGHTEN bronzer – “trademarks that violate Laura Geller’s rights, and that are intended to cause, and are likely to cause, confusion among consumers and the trade.” 

In addition to using product names that mimic Laura Geller’s trademark-protected product names, AS Beauty asserts that China-based Guangzhou Aolimei has co-opted the trade dress of Laura Geller’s product packaging, which consists of a terracotta marbled design, three concentric squares, a mix of black and gold lettering, and a short gold line, among other elements. AS Beauty asserts that taken together, the look and feel of its packaging is something that consumers have come to immediately recognizable as associated with the Laura Geller brand. As such, Guangzhou Aolimei has adopted such lookalike branding with the aim of “misleading and confusing” consumers and piggybacking on the appeal of the Laura Geller brand, AS Beauty argues. 

With that in mind, AS Beauty sets out claims of trademark infringement stemming from Guangzhou Aolimei’s use of its BALANCE-N-BRIGHTEN® and BRONZE-N-BRIGHTEN® trademarks; trade dress infringement thanks to Guangzhou Aolimei’s alleged appropriation of its distinctive packaging; false designation of origin and unfair competition; and trademark dilution, with AS Beauty arguing that Guangzhou Aolimei’s sale of duped products dilutes the distinctiveness of Laura Geller’s trademarks. AS Beauty is seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: As TFL first reported back in 2017, dupes are big business in the cosmetics segment – albeit not without the potential for legal complications when legally-protected brand names, logos, and/or product packaging is at play, as the case at hand indicates. Word marks like BALANCE-N-BRIGHTEN aside, trade dress infringement claims are interesting in the world of dupes, as cosmetics companies look to fend off copycats by alleging that replicas of their product packaging amounts to infringement. 

As for the success of claims over replicas of the look and feel of beauty product packaging, these rarely make for open-and-shut cases. Consumers may recognize the iconic J’Adore fragrance bottle or the green and pink Great Lash mascara tube, and associate them with their brands, Dior and Maybelline, respectively. However, if the design or packaging is not highly unique or unusual or has not gained recognition over time or through “look for” marketing, it may be difficult to show source-indicating function as required for trade dress protection.  As such, beauty brands may have difficulty establishing trade dress rights to fight dupes, whether in court or when seeking to register the product design or packaging design with the U.S. Trademark Office.

The case is AS Beauty Group v. Guangzhou Aolimei Cosmetics, 1:24-cv-08461 (SDNY).

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