The State of Illinois is home to a big new battle over the rights to use marks related to male grooming. You have definitely heard the words “manscaping” and “manscaped” used before, and now they are basically the subject of a federal court trademark dispute.
Wahl Clipper Corporation has sued Manscaped, LLC and Manscaped, Inc. for trademark infringement, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices. The issue revolves around the plaintiff’s use of a “MANSCAPER” trademark, which it has a registration to for use with electric hair clippers, electric hair trimmers and electric shavers, for roughly a decade.
Its concern is with the defendants’ promotion and selling of goods under the mark “MANSCAPED.”
In fact, defendants were successful in registering the trademark “MANSCAPED REFINING THE GENTLEMAN” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The plaintiff does not care that defendants possess a registration. It says that the dominant portions of the marks are virtually identical in appearance, sound and commercial impression. It further takes issue with defendants’ domain name Manscaped.com and their social media accounts that incorporate the mark.
On April 4, the plaintiff delivered a demand letter to the defendants. Two days later, the defendants refused to agree to cease using their marks.
