An Oregon-based sexual wellness company has initiated legal proceedings against Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. The lawsuit alleges copyright infringement through the deliberate use of similar trademarks that cause consumer confusion.
The Eugene-based company, Good Clean Love Inc., filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Oregon on March 28. A mother of four who desired more natural lubricants founded the company in 2003. It specializes in female reproductive health and hygiene products.
Paltrow founded Goop as a newsletter in 2008. Goop has since grown to include the sale of beauty products and other ventures including podcasts and television programs.
The organization launched a line of products called Good. Clean. Goop in October last year. Additionally, it filed for a trademark. However, according to the lawsuit, the product line is overly linked to the Good Clean Love line and has the potential to oversaturate the market due to its reputation bolstered by Paltrow and previous controversies.
“With the massive public interest in, and focus on, Goop’s celebrity founder and brand, Goop is known to consumers worldwide, whether or not a Goop product has ever been purchased or a Goop podcast ever listened to. According to media reports, Goop, a private company, has been valued at $250 million,” the lawsuit said.
Good. Clean. Goop. garnered immediate media attention from publications including People and New York Magazine, to mention a few. The company provides allegedly aphrodisiac with a twist—products like “The Pleasure Seeker Daily Chews” and “Aphrodisiac with a Twist”—which enhance a woman’s sexual desire. The lawsuit claims that the products are comparable to those that Good Clean Love already distributes and appear in similar search results on Amazon and Target.
“The market is saturated with “good clean [fill in the blank]” named brands. Goop’s “good.clean.goop” is an accessible skincare, body care and wellness line sold at Target and Amazon, and the goop brand is well-known for these products,” a spokesman said. “Thus, we trust consumers to distinguish goop from the plethora of other “good clean” products in the marketplace. We stand behind our products as clean and are proud to have been a pioneer in the clean beauty movement.”
The lawsuit alleges that Goop’s sexual product offerings have “caused legal action against the company in some instances, drawn criticism from medical experts, and ridiculed the concept of sexual health.” The lawsuit lists a candle with the inscription “This Smells Like My Vagina” and a vibrometer made of 24-karat gold with an estimated price tag of $15,000.
The lawsuit further details the $145,000 in civil penalties that the company allegedly paid the State of California for “egg-shaped stones designed for vaginal insertion to enhance sexual energy” but which failed to deliver the intended effect.
Source: Law and Crime