Posted by Rebel Ice Cream Loses Branding Dispute to Competitor
We’ve survived the cola wars, the burger wars, the clone wars – now it’s the ice cream wars.
But the battle isn’t looking good for Rebel Creamery, a brand who markets themselves as a healthier ice cream option, known for being keto-friendly and offering the lowest glycemic index on the market. Rebel’s product is sold in Walmart, Kroger, and other grocery stores across the US, and operates ice cream parlors in over a dozen states.
Rebel has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 following a trade-dress dispute with rival ice cream brand, Van Leeuwen – two companies with clear philosophical distinctions.
While Rebel Creamery focuses on its health aspects like using zero glycemic fibers and sweeteners, Van Leeuwen emphasizes the joy of indulging in ice cream made from pure ingredients like real butter fat, real vanilla beans, pistachios imported from Sicily, and more. Van Leeuwen’s founder calls it “good ice cream from good ingredients that makes you feel good,” emphasizing that ‘happiness is healthiness.”
The conflict is not in the appeal of the brands, but in the packaging. A trade-dress dispute comes into play when one side’s packaging, design, store appearance or overall presentation is so similar to an existing one that it creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers, or dilutes the distinctiveness of the original brand.
This particular trade-dress dispute arose amid allegations by Van Leeuwen that Rebel ripped off their brand’s packaging, including the same use of pastel colors and minimalistic script style. US District Judge Eric Komitee concurred. “The evidence…left no doubt that Rebel infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen’s trade-dress and did so intentionally” through its packaging, the judge said in a July 16 memorandum.
Rebel was co-founded in 2017 in Utah by married couple, Austin and Courtney Archibald, following an $80,000 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Van Leeuwen has sought more than $36 million in Rebel’s profits, but that amount was reduced to just under $24 million by the court.
Still, Rebel Creamery emphasizes the claim is “disputed,” and the judgment is under appeal. Court filings don’t confirm whether the trade-dress dispute is the only reason behind Rebel’s Chapter 11 filing, or if there’s more to the story.
Can package sizes and shapes, pastel colors, and script fonts truly be claimed by one brand or another? Will Rebel change up their packaging and stay on the market? Read more.