Nestle’s complement firm Persona Nutrition, which just lately tapped discuss present host Kelly Ripa as its spokeswoman, is being sued by make-up artist Sona Gasparian for stealing the identify of her firm — and even her prospects.
Gasparian says she based magnificence firm Persona Cosmetics 5 years in the past solely to see Nestle launch a line of dietary supplements below the identify Persona Nutrition in 2018.
While Gasparian’s firm sells eyeshadows, lipsticks, blush and brushes, together with in Ulta Beauty shops, she claims Nestle’s firm is a blatant copycat that’s already created confusion amongst prospects.
According to the Las Angeles state court docket lawsuit, quite a few shoppers have reached out to Gasparian’s cosmetics firm through e-mail to cancel their subscriptions to Persona Nutrition, together with one who stated it gave her an “upset abdomen,” and one other who was instructed to not take something aside from pre-natal nutritional vitamins as a result of she was pregnant.
Another dietary supplements buyer allegedly complained to Gasparian’s magnificence firm about having acquired the dietary supplements regardless of canceling the subscription, solely to later apologized to Persona Cosmetics as a result of “the folks I used to be after have an analogous firm identify.”
The lawsuit additionally claims that the corporate Ripa reps is utilizing a virtually an identical font and elegance of brand regardless of Nestle’s functions with the US Patent and Trademark Office having been rejected 5 separate instances, due to the “probability of confusion” with Gasparian’s firm.
Ripa, who turned 50 final yr, says Persona Nutrition is without doubt one of the magnificence secrets and techniques for her “camera-ready pores and skin,” the grievance says.
The state of affairs just lately reached a boiling level with Nestle utilizing the identical social media influencer — Stella Simona — to promote its merchandise and partnering with corporations which can be additionally bought in Ulta Beauty shops, the grievance stated.
It additionally complained about Nestle snapping up URLs which can be confusingly much like Gasparian’s firm, together with ‘personacosmetics.com,’ ‘personamakeup.com’ and ‘personaskin.com.’
These URLs don’t have anything to do with Nestle’s dietary supplements, the grievance says and are meant as a substitute to “misdirect shoppers” to Persona Nutrition in a “bare and unconscionable bid to steal” Gasparian’s shoppers, based on the grievance.
“There is nothing unintended right here about what Nestle did,” stated Persona Cosmetics lawyer, Michael Goldberg of Pryor Cashman. “It blurred the road and used Persona as a website identify as a part of an effort to usurp for itself what it was denied by the US Patent workplace.”
“Nestle may have chosen any identify. It knew it wasn’t the primary one to make use of Persona.”
Nestle didn’t instantly reply for remark. It has three pending functions with the USPTO for “narrower rights” the Persona brand, based on the grievance.
