Clif Bar Sued by KIND for Alleged Trademark Infringement
A lawsuit was filed by KIND against Clif Bar in the federal court in Manhattan last week accusing it of copying the unique and distinctive packaging of KIND bars and seeking to prevent it from releasing its Clif MOJO snack bars.
The new MOJO packaging copies several key elements of KIND’s distinctive trade dress including the front panel which is transparent and rectangular in shape and reveals a large portion of the bar itself; a horizontal stripe along the front of the packaging calling out the flavour name and description of the product line (e.g. Fruit & Nut); two vertical colour stripes at both ends of the bar; and a bulleted list of key health attributes set against a black background. In addition to the above MOJO also mimics KIND’s products in its choice of the name of the flavour, combination of ingredient, and product features.
KIND in its lawsuit further claims that the new MOJO trade dress have been a deliberate move on MOJO’s part designed each time to get closer and closer to the trade dress of KIND bars, and farther and farther from the package design of the Clif brand.
KIND founder and CEO, Mr. Daniel Lubetzky said that “Clif is a long-standing and well-respected competitor in the nutritional bar marketplace, which makes this imminent release of a copy-cat product particularly disappointing.” Since launching a decade ago, KIND has worked hard to innovate and create products whose ingredients you can see and pronounce. Consumers have embraced those KIND products in rapidly increasing numbers.
KIND vice president and general counsel, Justin Mervis asseeted that KIND will vigorously defend it hard earned goodwill and brand value against any imposers. He also added that that, “while KIND welcomes competition, KIND insists that such competition be fair and not based on consumer deception.”
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