Kendall Jenner’s tequila model accused of ‘blatantly’ copying Tequila 512 in lawsuit

Tequila 512 is suing Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila for trademark infringement, false designation of origin and unfair competitors, alleging that the model copied its emblem and colour scheme.

In its go well with filed Wednesday, Tequila 512 accused Okay & Soda LLC, which owns 818 Tequila, of “merely and blatantly” copying its branding.

The lawsuit states that Tequila 512, whose trademark was established in 2015, makes use of an “instantly recognizable 512 mark in black lettering inside a vertical yellow rectangle.” Tequila 818, which launched in 2021 with Jenner because the face of the corporate, is accused of utilizing the identical branding with “immaterial tweaks.”

The lawsuit additionally cites similarities between every firm’s digit model identify and their references to a “outstanding space code.” Tequila 512 nods to Austin, Texas, the place the corporate is predicated, whereas 818 Tequila refers to Los Angeles.

The branding is so related, the lawsuit state, that as a substitute of selling 818 Tequila in Might 2021, a picture of Tequila 512 was used for an in-game buy in Kim Kardashian’s “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” cellular sport. The lawsuit alleges that 818 Tequila both deliberately used the mistaken picture to “blur the traces between the 2 merchandise,” or that the branding is so related that the corporate was “confused in regards to the distinction between the 2 manufacturers.”

A consultant for 818 Tequila dismissed the claims from 512 Tequila in a press release to TMZ.

“We’re reviewing the criticism and imagine the allegations are with out benefit,” the assertion mentioned.

Jenner and Kardashian weren’t named as defendants within the lawsuit.

Representatives for 818 Tequila couldn’t be reached Thursday, however the firm dismissed the claims in a press release to TMZ.

“We’re reviewing the criticism and imagine the allegations are with out benefit,” the assertion mentioned.

Tequila 512 CEO and chairman Nick Matzorkis referred to as on 818 Tequila to “clearly distinguish themselves” from his firm’s merchandise in a press release to KEYE of Austin.

“It goes past simply misplaced gross sales, it’s about the long run dilution of our distinctive recognizable model identification that they determined to imitate,” he advised the information station.

Jenner has come underneath hearth for her affiliation with 818 Tequila earlier than. When the product launched final 12 months, she was criticized and accused of appropriating Mexican tradition in promotional pictures that featured her on horseback in agave fields.

Others criticized identified the grammatically incorrect Spanish on 818 Tequila’s labels.

Jenner later mentioned on “The Tonight Present”  that it was necessary to her that 818 Tequila was pleasant to the neighborhood.”

“At our distillery, which I used to be simply on the different day, we discovered a solution to take the agave waste — the agave fibers and the water waste — and construct this sustainable brick that we are literally donating again to the neighborhood of Jalisco,” she mentioned in September.