Khroma Beauty is a cosmetics line that Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian introduced last year. However, the owners of Beverly Hills–based cosmetics company Chroma Makeup Studio issued a public statement complaining that the beauty products from the reality television stars would cause consumer confusion. In a letter posted to their website, Chroma owners Michael Rey III and Lisa Casino sought to distinguish their Luxe beauty brand from the Kardashian product for ULTA. “Rest assured, Chroma Makeup Studio, which has a long-standing reputation for high quality colour line cosmetics and services, is NOT endorsing low budget cosmetic products that will be sold in mass retail outlets,” the letter stated. “Chroma is in no way associated with the Kardashians.” As it turned out, Chroma was not the first company to allege trademark infringement against Boldface Group, Inc., the Kardashians’ license-holder that sells the Khroma makeup. The Florida-based owner of Kroma makeup, Lee Tillett Inc., sent a cease and desist letter in June to Boldface. The company claimed that Khroma Beauty infringed on a trademark on Kroma that Tillett applied for in 2010. Boldface responded by filing an action for declaratory judgment in response to the cease and desist letter. According to Business Insider, Boldface stated in its legal documents that the name Kroma “consists solely of a descriptive term and lacks any inherent distinctive meaning to the relevant consuming public and therefore, is conceptually weak.” Boldface CEO Nicole Ostoya told the Huffington Post, “We do not believe that there is any likelihood of confusion between Khroma Beauty” and any other entity, because Khroma Beauty “is clearly marketed together with the famous Kardashian brand name and will be sold with singular and distinctive trade dress.” Robert G. Klein Klein Trial Lawyers
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