Jenner’s 818 settles suit in alleged ripoff
The 818 Tequila brand endorsed by reality TV star Kendall Jenner has settled a trademark infringement lawsuit alleging its name, logo and color scheme were confusingly similar to an Austin-based brand called Tequila 512.
Both parties agreed to pay attorney’s fees, but other details of the joint agreement were not disclosed in court records.
Tequila 512 filed suit in February, seeking to have Jenner and her business partners change the company name and logo, which includes black lettering, a vertical yellow rectangle — and a reference to a telephone area code in the Los Angeles area. Tequila 512 is named for the area code for Austin.
The Austin-based company wanted a jury trial and sought damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition.
The case was dismissed Nov. 9 after the companies reached a settlement.
Tiffany Catrina, the attorney for Clipbandits LLC, the company that owns Tequila 512, did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did a representative for 818 Tequila.
Nick Matzorkis, CEO of Tequila 512, told TMZ last week the dispute had been resolved and the companies asked the court to dismiss the case.
“The parties have agreed that they will each have the right to use their existing names and they will both make changes to their labels to clarify that they are not related to each other,” Matzorkis told the website.
In July, Clipbandits attempted to trademark its name and brand, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Its request was denied Oct. 28. Clipbandits wanted to trademark Tequila 512, its yellow and black logo, and yellow rectangle behind it, with the word “Tequila” appearing above Austin’s area code.
Neither Tequila 512 nor 818 Tequila, which was founded last year, have publicly stated how they will change their branding.
On Nov. 7, Catrina had filed a memo with the court laying out the Austin company’s claims. A hearing was initially scheduled for December.
She said the case was about “correcting rampant confusion in the marketplace caused by” K & Soda LLC, the company that owns 818 Tequila, whose brand was “confusingly similar” to Tequila 512.
Catrina said that Jenner’s
celebrity endorsement and “enormous marketing budget” would “overwhelm the tequila market and make consumers believe that” 818 Tequila was the source of the Austin company’s goods. Accordingly, Catrina argued, it would also “threaten to destroy” Tequila 512’s “efforts to create and build
its tequila brand.”
Tequila 512 was founded in 2012 by Scott and Lauren Willis. They expanded the company in 2016 and created the brand’s logo, which consists of a clear glass bottle with a centered vertical yellow rectangle and three-digit Austin area code.
By the end of 2020, Tequila
512 was available across Texas, California, Florida and Hawaii. It’s now offered in New York, New Jersey, Washington, Alaska and Puerto Rico.
When 818 Tequila was launched in May 2021, it began “flooding the marketplace. Almost immediately, consumers at every point in the chain of sale began to show that they were confused” between the two products, according to the lawsuit.
In court filings, Ashley R. Yeargan, the attorney representing 818 Tequila, argued that Jenner’s company chose the name to reflect her love of her famous family and life in Southern California’s 818 area code.
Contrary to the Texas company’s allegations, “nobody associated with 818 had ever heard” of Tequila 512 “until it started waging a social media campaign against 818 and then initiated this legal action,” Yeargan wrote in court documents filed April 26.
“Simply put, this is a frivolous lawsuit specifically crafted to boost publicity surrounding the Plaintiff’s lesser-known tequila brand,” Yeargan wrote.