Naked bath bombs local firm faces legal threat from L’Oréal
The Naked Soap Co., which describes itself as a ‘small, local family business’ and boasts just 20 employees, has now launched a crowdfunder to facilitate its ability to fight the challenge.
L’Oréal is opposing the branding on the grounds that consumers may confuse the products with its Urban Decay Naked range, and the beauty multinational believes it owns the trademark for the use of ‘naked’.
‘David and Goliath’
The Naked Soap Co. asserts that it does not believe consumers could confuse the two brands, with founder Garylee Rushforth reportedly telling the BBC that there is no similarity between the products.
"We produce bath bombs, not eye shadow or makeup, so there can be no confusion for customers," he told the news company.
On the company’s crowdfunder page, the Naked Soap Co. asserts it intends to challenge the trademark challenge, framing it in terms of a ‘David vs. Goliath’ beauty battle.
“We firmly believe that this action is morally wrong and are determined to stand up and oppose this challenge, not only for ourselves, but also for every other small business that has faced a similar David vs. Goliath challenge whereby global corporations feel able to intimidate, challenge or indeed damage small business and the local economies which they support,” the page reads.
At the time of publication, the Naked Soap Co.’s crowdfunder for legal proceedings has amassed over £1,500.
A L'Oreal spokeswoman told the BBC it has no comment at this time: "As this matter is the subject of ongoing administrative proceedings we are unable to provide further comment at this time."
