Procter and Gamble (P&G), a consumer goods company, has filed a suit against Blue Cross Laboratories (BCL) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati alleging BCL of copying P&G's Herbal Essences' packaging.
According to Bizjournals.com, Procter said it filed a lawsuit alleging that its Herbal Essences shampoo bottle molds have been infringed.
P&G is demanding that Blue Cross stop distributing the products, recall existing inventory from store shelves and destroy bottle molds.
If you compare the two bottles of shampoo (P&G's bottle on the left and BCL's bottle on the right) you can clearly see that the bottles have a very similar shape. Both of them have a similar type font with 'Herbal' in their name which I think is the dominant part of the trademark. Also, 'essences' and 'passion' are conceptually similar and both of them have a colourful swirly logo just above their 'Herbal' trademark.
In addition to being trademark infringement, this seems to be a classic case of passing off to me. Passing off essentially occurs where the reputation of party A (P&G) is misappropriated by party B (BCL), such that party B takes advantage of party A's reputation and quite possibly damage party A's reputation.
I'd bet that P&G will win this case easily win if it does go to court.
