Trouble with the trademark. Kim Kardashian may have to hit pause on her latest beauty business, SKKN by KIM.
After the 40-year-old reality star filed trademarks for both SKKN and SKKN by KIM, she was hit with a cease and desist letter from Beauty Concepts LLC, a company that provides salon, skin care and beauty spa services under the name SKKN+.
“I have painstakingly built my successful small business with my own sweat equity, hard work and research,” SKKN+ founder Cydnie Lunsford said in a release shared with Us Weekly. “It’s clear that I established my brand first. As a young black woman, my mission with SKKN+ is to provide quality skincare and curated full body experiences to enhance each client’s self-care regimen.”
Lunsford’s lawyer, Erik M. Pelton, went on to say that SKKN+, which was founded in 2018, filed trademarks with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office prior to Kardashian.
Lunsford filed the trademark for SKKN+ on March 28. The Skims founder filed a trademark for SKKN BY KIM on March 30 and a subsequent one for SKKN on July 9.
In response to the cease and desist, Kardashian’s attorney, Michael G. Rhodes told TMZ: “We certainly appreciate and support small businesses and our hat is off to Ms. Lunsford. But the question at hand is one of trademark law and we’ve not done anything deserving of legal action by her.
Rhodes continued: “We are disappointed that she has chosen to run to the media knowing that we were scheduling a call for tomorrow, requested by her attorney. So while disagreeing with the letter, we’re hopeful that we can smooth things over once both sides speak.”
While Kardashian has not officially announced the launch of SKKN by KIM, rumors about the brand have been swirling since April.
With 19 trademarks under the name and an additional one under SKKN, the potential new brand could allow for an expansion into everything from home goods and children’s entertainment to beauty salon services, skincare, hair accessories and cosmetics.
Earlier this month, the beauty boss announced that she would temporarily be “shutting down” KKW Beauty, which she first founded in 2017, on August 1.
That said, she assured fans via Instagram that she intended on relaunching “under a completely new brand with new formulas that are more modern, innovative and packaged in an elevated and sustainable new look.”
Us Weekly reached out to Kardashian’s rep for comment and did not immediately hear back.
