BOISE -- Meridian-based Scentsy, Inc. is suing an Iowa internet business, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. Grace Adele, LLC, a jewelry and handbag company under the Scentsy family of brands is also a named plaintiff in the lawsuit.
The company filed the lawsuit in federal court this week and is claiming Iowa-based American Hero Clothing and Accessories has been manufacturing, advertising and selling clothing that includes registered trademarks.
Some of the clothing, as shown in screenshots filed within the lawsuit, includes t-shirts that read Join the SCENTsation rocking the nation and Ask me about joining my Scents family .
Scentsy claims American Hero knows about Scentsy and Grace Adele's trademarks and has previously been told to stop using the company's logos on products. According to court documents, last week, Scentsy found the logos were still being used on American Hero's website.
Another company using Scentsy's logos, the company says, could cause confusion or mistake in the minds of consumers .
In the lawsuit, Scentsy and Grace Adele are claiming trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, breach of contract and breach of the Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing (because Scentsy says American Hero previously agreed to stop selling the products).
Scentsy's attorney is asking for recovery of costs and attorneys' fees of $10,000. They are also asking for the court to stop American Hero from selling the products and are seeking damages, including profit made by American Hero.
When KTVB checked American Hero's website, we could no longer find the products shown within the lawsuit. So far, American Hero has not responded to KTVB's request for comment, nor have its owners responded formally in court.
Scentsy, Inc.'sChief Legal Officer sent KTVB the following statement regarding the newly-filed lawsuit: Scentsy has an obligation to protect our trademarks and our intellectual property. We have a process that allows people to get permission to use our trademarks, but in this case, the individual chose not to follow that process. We always seek voluntary compliance first, but sometimes we have to file a lawsuit.
In an unrelated court filing, Scentsy this week also filed a request for a subpeona of contact information of some of Amazon.com's sellers who the company says have been illegally posting copyrighted images on Amazon.
