Black Beauty Founder Sues Kim Kardashian For Trademark Infringement
Founder of Beauty Concepts, Cydnie Lunsford, has filed a lawsuit against Kim Kardashian after alleging that the business owner stole the name of her salon service named SKKN+.
Black-owned beauty business, SKNN+ was founded by Cyndie Lunsford almost four years ago and offers women a wide range of aesthetic body products. The brand provides a hands-on transformative experience to all clients and helps them embrace new and healthier skincare habits.
In 2018, Lunsford trademarked the name of her business just two days before Kim Kardashian made it to the trademark office. Immediately after this, the business owner issued a cease-and-desist to the reality TV star, demanding her corporation drop the name to avoid trademark infringement. In response to this, Kim Kardashian’s lawyer said he was hopeful that the two could come together and smooth things over once they spoke.
Four years later, Lunsford has decided to file a lawsuit against the reality star, and she is not going down without a fight. The small Black-owned business owner alleges that Kardashian’s new skincare launch is seriously impacting her business as customers find it hard to differentiate between the two. Lunsford has also highlighted the challenges she continues to face as a small business owner, especially following the recent pandemic.
“I have painstakingly built my successful small business with my own sweat equity, hard work, and research,” says CEO and founder of SKKN+, Cydnie Lunsford. “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. The (+) represents a hands-on transformative aesthetic experience that elevates the body, mind, and spirit.”
Kim Kardashian has faced controversy over her brand name, with Twitter users pointing out how eerily similar the brand’s name was to Lori Harvey’s skincare line, SKN by LH. Some people have also highlighted that this incident is only a small part of a broader issue of large brands stealing from small Black businesses.
