Kendall Jenner Mixes Up Trademark Lawsuit Cocktail - Above the LawAbove the Law - Above the Law

Kendall Jenner (Photo by Getty Images)

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a liquor brand. Kendall Jenner is a multimillionaire member of the inexplicably wealthy Kardashian set. If you get them confused, Kendall is the one who solved racism by giving Pepsi to the cops.

Because rich people get rich by slapping their goodwill on the work of others, Jenner — who is not a master distiller — started selling 818 Tequila. It’s named after an L.A. area code. It’s very clever!

Meanwhile, 512 Tequila is named after the area code in Austin, Texas, and predates the 818 brand by several years. It also manages to be both cheaper and higher quality — assuming you agree that distilling the product more times amounts to quality. And, in the spirit of cultural appropriation, is no bueno.

In a complaint filed last week, the makers of 512 Tequila allege that Jenner’s 818 Tequila blatantly rips off their brand. Does intellectual property law extend to the idea of naming your booze after an area code? No. Does it extend to making a bottle that looks like this? Maybe.

Screen Shot 2022-02-22 at 10.05.21 AM

Those… do look kinda similar.

But did 818 really set out to copy 512? Could consumers really get confused?

Well, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, the mobile app of aspiring attorney Kim Kardashian, gave little sis a boost by promoting the brand in the game. Except the game just threw a 512 bottle in there instead:

Moreover, Defendant’s infringement and attempt to trade on Plaintiff’s
goodwill did not stop there. In May 2021, Defendant promoted its tequila as a virtual product that could be purchased on the mobile app game of Kendall Jenner’s sister: Kim Kardashian Hollywood. However, the image that Defendant used in the app was of a bottle of Plaintiff’s 512 tequila. Plaintiff did not authorize this use in any way.

Oops! The image quality on that game isn’t great, so it’s not obviously a bottle of 512, but it certainly looks more like 512 than 818 when the branding and the shape of the bottle join forces.

As the complaint notes, “Either Defendant intentionally used Plaintiffs bottle, hoping to further blur the lines between the two products, or Defendant was itself confused about the difference between the two brands.” Neither looks good for 818. When 512 informed the mobile app of the unauthorized use of its branding, the game changed the design to a green circular brand.

Which 512 thinks would make for an excellent IRL design change.

KENDALL JENNER 818 TEQUILA SUED … You Ripped Off 512 Tequila, And Got Kim Involved [TMZ]

Headshot Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.