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Kim Kardashian’s skin care brand SKKN called out for similarities to two existing brand names - SKKN+ and SKN by LH
SKKN by KIM, Kim Kardashian's recently launched skincare brand has been accused of stealing its name from two already existing beauty brands SKKN+ and Lori Harvey's skincare line SKN by LH.
In July 2021, Kardashian’s legal team received a cease-and-desist from a company, Beauty Concepts LLC, whose owner Cyndie Lunsford claimed that she has been operating salons under the SKKN+ brand name since 2018.
Kardashian filed 17 trademark applications between March and July 2021 for SKKN by Kim. Just a couple of days before her first applications were posted on the US Patent and Trademark Office’s website on March 30, 2021, Beauty Concepts LLC filed its own trademark application for its operating name, SKKN+.
Netizens were quick to identify similarities between the two names.
A user on Instagram said: “Anyone with a fully developed brain and a pair of working eyeballs can clearly see that S-K-N and S-K-K-N is the same.”
In an email to Forbes, Lunsford said: “I have painstakingly built my successful small business with my own sweat equity, hard work, and research. It's clear that I established my brand first.”
“As a young black woman, my mission with SKKN+ is to provide quality skin care and curated full-body experiences to enhance each client's self-care regimen. The (+) represents a hands-on transformative aesthetic experience that elevates the body, mind, and spirit,” she added.
Her lawyer Erik M. Pelton said: “It is hard to believe that Kardashian's team either did not know about the prior use of SKKN+ or knew and adopted the SKKN brand name anyway to steamroll a small, minority business.”
However, Kardashian's legal team has argued that due to the SKKN+ mark's descriptive character, Beauty Concepts shouldn't have exclusive rights to it, leaving flexibility for Kardashian to also participate in the market.
Lori Harvey, a 25-year-old model, also launched her own skincare line, SKN by LH last year.
Her fans criticized Kardashian for naming her skincare brand very similar to Lori's.
A Twitter user wrote: “Kim naming her skincare brand SKKN when Lori Harvey's skincare brand name is SKN doesn't sit right with me. Seems like they're stealing from a Black woman for the thousandth time.”
This is not the first time Kardashian has faced backlash over a brand name.
Back in 2019, she was accused of cultural appropriation when she announced her new shapewear line Kimono. Days after the name caused a storm on social media, Kim announced she'd be renaming the line, which is now known as SKIMS.
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