Model Hailey Bieber is now in legal trouble over her skincare company “Rhode" for trademark infringement by two fashion creators, former college roommates, who created a successful clothing line under the “Rhode" trademark. The creators have sued Hailey Bieber on Tuesday, saying she’s creating market confusion by marketing a skincare line under the name.
Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers' nine-year-old fashion company, Rhode, filed a lawsuit against the model and her two businesses on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, claiming they were trying to preserve their brand's trademark. They are asking a federal judge to immediately halt Bieber's use of the trade name, which also happens to be her middle name, in accordance with the federal Lanham Act and New York common law, according to court records.
"Today, we were forced to file a lawsuit against Hailey Bieber and her new skin-care line that launched last week and that is using the brand Rhode," the co-owners of the Rhode clothing company wrote in a statement. The statement continued, "We have only the brand name ‘RHODE' that we've built. That's why we didn't sell her our brand when she asked four years ago, and why we ask her now to change her skin-care line's brand. Her using our brand is hurting our company, our employees, our customers, and our partners." The co-owners also wrote that they "didn't want to file this lawsuit," but "had to" in order to protect against brand confusion.
After confirming the launch of her beauty brand in 2022, Hailey officially debuted her skincare line Rhode Beauty with its first drop, on Wednesday, June 15
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