I think that Zoya is reaching with this case. When people refer to a specific nail polish, it's always Brand Polish Name, e.g. OPI Big Apple Red, Essie Starry Starry Night, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, etc. Lights Lacquer Zoey is clearly different from Zoya Zooey. Zoya being petty like this and being seen as bullying a small business will hurt their own polish sales more than Lights Lacquer will. Once the nail polish community at large catches wind of this, the support will be for Kathleen, not Zoya.
Well saying Zoya Tove works but if you just say Ruby Pumps people know its China Glaze, thats where the issue is, I can see where Zoya are coming from, all other brands use a different naming convention, OPI has puns, Zoya has peoples names, they are not protecting the names per say they are protecting their *naming convention*
@@TheGoodbyeGirl Lots of companies have puns--and I've even seen multiple nail polish companies using the same puns or even the same names for polishes. This is the first time one company has been such bloody wankers as to sue over it.
@@aquariaaustin2077 I'm sure there have been a lot of companies that have done similar regarding names, however, its Lights Lacquer that is in the wrong, as I explained, you are never going to see a Toyota Mustang or a Ford 2CV because everyone associates Mustang with Ford and 2CV with Citroen. If Lights had uses other names it would have been fine. Zoya has the right to protect their product from being confused with someone elses.
I call bullshit....Zoya should have never been given exclusive rights to names. Nobody confuses lights lacquer with Zoya. If Lights Lacquer named their entire line with womens names I would say Zoya has a case but her naming 1 polish per collection is not infringing on Zoya. It's also embarrassing to ZOYA dregging up the racial slur incident.
I get that it's their right to sue, but I don't like the idea of a nail polish brand owning the rights to naming their polishes female names when it's so widely popular
I agree. Zoya is turning me off right now. I love Zoya. I love Lights Lacquer. I own the YNBB Vol. 1. I would buy from Zoya and Lights Lacquer so it's really not TRUTHFUL that it's harming them by someone else sharing the same polish name. I actually like when polishes have the same name and have bought them just for the fun of it. I've searched for them. Since this law suit is happening I won't even name the polishes I own with the same names. If a nail polish lover loves multiple brands we'll buy even if it has the same name with a different color, finish, etc. Zoya hasn't made a polish with my name maybe I should trademark my name now...ugh! I don't like it.
This. Like so many brands do it and zoya just wants to monopolize because they have the money to do so. So are all the smaller indie brands at risk now of frivolously being sued because one brands wants to be money hungry and monopolistic ?
@@JambolinasWorld yes that's what I was trying, and failed to might I add, to say hahahaha, thankyou.......it just seems so petty and mean spirited to go after a smaller brand, but even worse for them to attempt to tarnish her name and possibly her business is just gross, it reeks of monopolistic greed of unscrupulous corporate overlords😠
@@naillacquertherapy Hm. I dunno. This is a slam dunk for me on trying to trademark names. Total BS. I don’t know Kathleen, have never bought her polish…the level at which I am feeling viscerally repulsed by Zoya is any attempt by a big company to trademark a personal name. Trademarks on names, color names, etc, shouldn’t be ALLOWED imo. Talk about ridiculous.
Unless Lights Lauquer is owned by a small or large parent company or in partnership with Kathleen, Lights Laquer is in fact still an independent brand.......I can understand people not wanting to continue buying from Zoya, there are tons of nail polish companies and millions of nail polish names, and especially when it comes to female names, I think trademarks on something such as names is truly ridiculous!!! I've always viewed trademarks as something very unique and special to a brand, making that the driving factor in their desire to protect it, this just seems so incredibly petty and money hungry in the most debased way......for them to go after an independent brand, going so far as to publicly shame her, irrevocably damage her name and in so doing damage her brand is extremely excessive and mean spirited on their part, in my opinion 🤷🏼♀️ I also think there assessment that the use of the names would be damaging to their brand is highly questionable and certainly not catastrophic, seriously kind of dramatic and in all honesty suing smaller, lesser known companies is far more damaging to their image and brand than the shared use of a name 🙄
@@naillacquertherapy Zoya using that video in their court case is extreme, they're attacking a person directly not just handling the legal case. It's a low blow and thinking that it isn't is brainless. I won't be buying from Zoya again because they weren't just going after their rights they used this as an opportunity to attack a smaller brand at every level and that is not okay.
Wow. Trademarking women’s names seems a little … extreme? I could understand a controversy if LL was choosing / using names like “My Private Jet” , “You Don’t Know Jacques”, or, “OPI Red”… I won’t stop buying from Zoya, but I do think this lawsuit is ridiculous.
Their trademark only covers those names being used for nail polish. So people can still use the name in other ways, like a lot of shoe companies use female names for their different shoe styles, and that would not infringe on Zoya. You can still name your daughter "Mia" or any of those names. Trademarks are very narrowly registered for specific categories of items.
@@lestranged I feel that Zoya is really reaching when it comes to “similar names”. Julia is a far cry from Julianna, for example. Some may have been awarded in court. But in the court of public opinion/conception, they really just shot themselves in the foot. I, for one, won’t be purchasing from them.
This is crazy!!! I was under the impression that Lights Lacquer was using Zoya's company to create their polishes. I was under that impression because I own lots of the Zoya polishes and all Lights Lacquer polishes. When I say some polishes are the same colors, I mean 💯 % the same. I really hope their issues get resolved because I love both brands.
Wow, crummy thing for Zoya to do. I'd understand if the polish names AND finishes and colors were similar, but these are generic, popular women's names and polishes are different. Haven't bought Zoya in a couple of years anyway, but will consider if I want to in the future. I don't know the other brand, but the principle of going after small brands is something I don't like seeing, regardless of the law. I just don't think people would confuse the two brands and damage Zoya as they claim.
I agree that Zoya has the legal right to sue and that their trademark is just for nail polish using those names. Having said that, they’re proper names. Zoya has the right to sue but I still think it’s a jerk move. I don’t own polishes from either brand. But if I made polishes, I would want to name one after my daughter or my mom or my bestie (all names Zoya has trademarked) so I just think it makes them look bad to do this. 🤷🏻♀️ Thanks for the info!
Janixa, as I listen to your reading of the court docs, I think Zoya was treading on pretty thin ice legally. I mean...they are female names, some are literally hundreds to _thousands_ of years old in various cultures. I would have contested it. Its like the words "opalescent" or "moonstone". Lots of brands use these to name their polishes. If all the brands trademarked multiple one- word, commonly-used color names, it seems they would all be suing each other. The bigotry issue seems like they are on a tangent.🤔 Weird!
Yes but you can still trademark a name if it pertains to a niche. So if Zoya has the trademarks for certain names when it comes to nail polish, they have the legal rights here.
KL saying the n-word has damaged Lights Lacquer's brand and a lot of people called to boycott the nail polish so it absolutely would matter to Zoya that they wouldn't want to be associated with something or someone that could hurt their brand image. I don't think it's just a reach or tangential
@@secretaznjen That is a good point, but that might also be a bit loose due to why not just cancel everything and everyone connected to that event, like let's say the game that she was playing even though the game had nothing to do with her shouting out a slur other than being played by her. Or canceling the terms HBIC, Secret Garden, or Smokey Quartz due to her naming polishes that as well. I'm not on KL side at all, but I am not for a corporate suing someone just for greed. It would be different if there was a group of POC women/people who would not only boycott but also protest against KL using their names for shades when she uses slurs, but that isn't the case here. Zoya isn't looking for damage control, they are looking to make sure that they get all the money and they won't be the first or the last brand to do this.
@toy2poos28 First of all its Janixa. Not Janina. Second of all, I made this video to inform those who wanted to know about the case. Third, I can make whatever videos I please. If you don’t want to watch them, don’t watch! If Zoya was suing any other brand I’d make this video too. It has nothing to do with the fact that they’re suing LL. How the hell am I gloating here? I didn’t speak negatively about either brand. Stop letting your obsession for KL cloud your judgement about normal business issues. You can think it’s bullying but it’s not. It’s business. Did you know that if Zoya doesn’t protect their trademarks they lose them? It would be a stupid business move on their part to ignore these things. I make videos about anything to do with nail polish. Not just swatch and reviews. Again, if you don’t like it it’s really easy to not watch.
This is duuumb! How can you copyright a person’s name? 🙄 I already don’t buy Zoya because they charge extra for a decent brush, but this is the nail in the coffin so to speak. I also don’t buy LL and have no feelings towards them, good or bad. I think Zoya is out of line and I do not agree with what they’re doing
They're trademarked, which is different from copyright. Most trademarks are for very specific uses, which in this case, is nail polish names. People were getting mad at Taylor Swift a while back for (I believe) trademarking "1989", but it was only for merchandise like tshirts, and it was only in a specific font. Still crazy for a brand to trademark names, though.
@@baileyt640 ok, used the wrong word. I still think it’s silly for them to even do it though. I get “the law is the law” but they shouldn’t be trademarking names in the first place
@@lurcherry I don't think it's fair to say Zoya shouldn't be doing something that every other business does but I do think it's fair to say that if you're going to go into business you need to know the law
Zoya has been in business for more than 25 years ? How come they are giving us the worst brushes and want us to pay extra for decent ones? Way to go spending money on trademarks rather than on decent nail brushes…
Just business. But nasty business. Actually, I think that if Lights Lacquer had more money, they would have a case. Personal names being trademarked is a little iffy. Can you imagine being sued over your babies name? For real. Also, I think it was Bobby Brown, used to use women's names for most of their lipsticks, starting in the 90's, so hey, they did it first? Really a bad look for Zoya, IMHO... Also, go through your collection and start really looking at the names of polishes; out and out the same names from multiple companies. I have even seen people do Videos on the topic of which polish better captures the name. Just ugly Zoya...
Recently OPI came out with a polish called "Left Your Texts on Red" while Holo Taco released a shade called "Left on Red" last year or the year before. They aren't the exact same name but kind of close. I just don't know if either of them trademarks their shade names since that is quite expensive.
I get it is legal, I agree LL should know the rules, and I don't even own any LL polishes, but it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. LL can name a polish after me lol.
Trademarks and copyrights are mostly legitimized through court precedent (outcomes of cases). Meaning you can file trademarks, copyright, patents and then the protection and validity comes through the lawsuits. A court could potentially find that Zoya’s trademarks are overreaching but I doubt it because it’s fairly specific (using female names for selling specific nail polish formulations). Also fwiw, I am a person who does not purchase products from influencers that say or do something I don’t support. LL maybe thought they had a shot to defend but lost, and they definitely paid out. This is fair competition stuff 🤷♀️
Never knew about this trademark battle between these two brands. Very interesting to hear and surprised to learn female names can be trademark for polishes/cosmetic products.
Haha, same here!! I know some people might think it's shady or whatever, but I'm totally here for the drama!! There are some good points on both sides of this argument, though.
I'm never buying Zoya again. Coming to think of it, it's quite an annoying brand. Their bottles are so small, their flat brushes cost extra money, and now this. Thanks for your wonderful research, Janixa!!
You know, so many small and indie brands release collections inspired by popular culture...can you imagine if Disney or Marvel or Star Wars or Netflix or ... decided to get suit happy? Just not a good look, although I am sure they are well within their rights. And hey, I am looking at you Zoya Merida...
Zoya Elsa, too. I just find it a bit hypocritical that Zoya would spend so much money to trademark all the names they used, and sue other brands to keep those names to themselves, as thought they're keeping the justice alive or something... But I doubt they paid copyright / trademark fees to use those names, in the first place?
I understand that emotion is ruling some people’s responses to this but … facts are facts. Trademarks are public records and the fact that Zoya has literally done this same thing to a company before? KL got burned with her first company and she vowed to do everything right this time around - you would think she hired a good legal team who discussed this possibility with her. Also LL certainly has more than a handful of these polishes - they’ve had whole collections named after women and a commitment to at least one in every single collection. I think the situation is unfortunate but no one is a real “victim” here.
I like both brands and believe that is room for both. Zoya has every right to protect their brand and it seems they acted fairly. renaming some polishes is fair given that lights laquer is a small brand.
If Zoya were to not enforce their trademark by sending the cease and desist letter and suing Lights Lacquer, they could lose it. Trademarks that aren’t protected by the companies that own them may be eventually be considered abandoned and unenforceable. I don’t agree with Zoya trademarking women’s names as nail polish color names, but I understand why they’d sue here and I don’t fault them for that.
It made sense to go after Julep because their entire brand used first names for their colors. Not sure it would be worth it to go after a brand over a handful of names. Apparently it was, or Zoya wouldn't have done so.
Thanks for your investments of time and money to bring us the facts! Great detective work and also you are definitely Ravenclaw! 💗 This is a sticky sticky situation wow.
@@naillacquertherapy I know you are! You're so precise with your pronunciation, I can tell it's important to you. I saw the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw crests behind you and I was like, who's Gryffindor because Janixa is not. Thanks again and have a great evening!
Thanks for the insightful video Janixa, so this seems like the second time Kathleen Lights experienced issues with her brand. Didn‘t she had to rename her company from KL onethingoranother to Lights Lacquer. Now over the recent years I heard about lawsuits, quality issues etc also about other influencer brands like fe the lipstickgate of Jaclyn Hill and then there was some beef around nourish supplements from Tati. Which makes me wonder who advices them on proper business conduct and the legal consequences. And I feel sorry for them for that. And holding a trademark over a female name is quite common I would say: Mercedes for the cars, Marie-Claire for a women‘s magazine to name two only.
But I think the brands you mentioned only focus on their one brand name. Zoya has a lot of polishes with so many names and they're trade marking every single one of them.
@@jamieh95 true but what about Ikea? I am pretty sure trademarking your product has become a must these days. And I mean not just to protect your goods from being copied, etc but the sheer mass of items brought to market every day you want to ensure that your products get all the support to stand out.
Zoya’s just mad some of us don’t buy Zoya polishes and never will. Kathleen got me back into nail Polish, and I choose to almost exclusively buy hers. It’s good nail Polish. Nobody’s confused between Zoya and Lights Lacquer.
I'm no fan of Lights Lacquer, but I think Zoya is out of line. Don't care for LL, but this sets a bad precedent. LL probably just can't afford to go against Zoya. I have no good feelings toward LL, but this doesn't make me feel too good about Zoya either.
Then if it's the polish and their name, should the lawsuit be able to stand when the polishes are different from each other? Like Zoya's Delilah is a sparkly textured black where KL Delilah-Soulmate is a pink jelly, two totally different polishes. To me, this is like if there was a legal battle for every girl I knew who was named Ashley or Brittney. This is pointless and just shouts greed to me.
@@BreezyStreamy I totally agree! I can’t stand when a big company pulls sh*t like this just because they can bully smaller companies that can’t pay a big name legal team. I plan to make it less confusing for Zoya by never, ever buying their polish again. They don’t own women’s names. And all my hackles are raised on this one.
@@BreezyStreamy No, because the polish color and appearance itself cannot be trademarked. That's how every brand can have an identical red creme without infringing on eachother. Even less generic colors can legally be duped. Even trademarked colors like 'tiffany blue" and "coca cola red" are only trademarked for narrow product categories when it comes to "trade dress" i.e. logos and branding. So in this case it is literally only the names of the polishes that are trademarked, not the name + the color. The name in another context like naming a shoe Mia or naming your cat Mia or naming a car Mia would all be allowed. Zoya only owns those names when applied to any nail polish.
@@tdelphia1 I agree completely with you! Zoya has been honking me off for several years now with their price increases, bad brushes and then you have to pay to get a decent brush, their boring and chronically disappointing releases, on and on. Now this. Sorry, Zoya -- but I will be interested to see how consumers respond and if it makes a difference in Zoya's bottom line. If we are able to find out about that.
This is Kathleen's second go at a polish brand and her legal team clearly didn't do the bare minimum when establishing LL as such. Her legal didn't do their homework and dropped the ball massively. Trademarks are a big deal as Christine from simplynailogical talked about in one of her vids. Zoya had every legal right to seek remedy in this case.
@@donnapoulin5092 you shouldn't be allowed to trade mark a person's name. She named one polish per collection, not like she did all of them like that. I think Zoya are just acting like bullies and it'll cost them
I hate to see smaller companies get into a spot like this (especially ones I like! I like both brands), but I totally agree, business is business. Adeline is still going to be Adeline to me! It'll be the same classic Jelly. Love that you covered it! It's not often I hear about nail polish news unless it's a lauch and I was definitely confused when I saw the sudden name changes. I'm not on social media often enough to keep up anyway, so thank you!
Lol this is such coroporate overreach, attacking a small brand over something frivolous. They’re just women’s names. They aren’t even the same shades. A lot of them aren’t even spelled the same. This would lead to a very slippery slope. Also I’ve literally never heard anyone mistake a Zoya polish for a LL polish, again especially since the COLORS AREN’T EVEN THE SAME. In order for Zoya to actually prevail in court, they’d have to prove that there is actual market confusion in the real world, and they’d also have to prove that them being mistaken for LL or vice versa literally harmed their brand. I think they’d have a very hard time proving that, especially when the only evidence presented thus far is ONE racist word incident from almost 7 years ago. I have never heard ANYone confuse the two brands or like this is some widespread issue, and I def haven’t seen anyone thinking Zoya is the brand whose owner said the N word almost a decade ago. Unfortunately it’s insanely expensive to actually take a case like this to court and follow it through, so LL will likely just change the names and settle the case and move on. So essentially, yet another tale of a large corporation attacking a smaller brand and coming out on top.
Thank you for the information, very interesting. I does surprise me that so many are against Zoya. They did nothing wrong, they gave her the opportunity make it right and she didn’t. They did what the law allows them to do to protect their brand. I have nothing against LL either, I don’t know her or her polish. Had it been the other way around LL would have done the same, any business would. Hopefully with their agreement everything will work out ok for her.
The Latin nail polish brands have all named their nail polish names of people and why before Zoya. Like Masglo nail polish Admiss nail polish and many more brands .
Can You imagine if Disney decided to sue all of the indie brands. Didn't Zoya make a red colour named Ariel? Being a bit hypocritical aren't they. You shouldn't be allowed to trademark names regardless
Thank you for the thorough review of the facts of this case! It sounded crazy at first but totally makes sense now that Zoya already had trademarks for these names as polish names and needs to protect that. It’s too bad LL didn’t respond to the cease & desist.
I completely understand what you’re saying about the legality issues. However, I think it’s wrong to do this with female names (my daughters and myself have owned our names for a long time. Yet, Zoya uses them). Besides, I noticed two or more of the same names for nail polish colors & nothing has come of it , until now. I have a feeling that Zoya must not selling as much as they used to. There are so many new boutique/indie companies who are really raising the bar. I believe that you, yourself, we’re just commenting that Zoya’s collections lately have been very repetitive in colors? Legal or not, Zoya has left a bad taste in my mouth and I, personally, will not be purchasing from them again. Love you, Janixa! I just love your reviews & the consistency & hard work that you put into it! ❤
I 100% agree with your takes Janixa! Though I can empathize with LL, at the end of the day it’s up to each individual brand’s legal team to ensure they’re not infringing on any trademarks. Zoya is known for using girl names so I totally get them wanting to protect their brand recognition. & they’re fully within their legal rights to do so. Also, it was shocking to me that LL has known about this since August!!
@Janixa - Nail Lacquer Therapy Oh I get that, it just seems like they were being petty with it haha. Guess this is why we never see OPI just have a "suzie" shade
I guess it just seems a little silly to claim that people will confuse your products, if they're totally different colors. If they were dupes, that argument would make more sense?
I came here for the chisme and it didn’t disappoint! Lol but I’m with the law side too, one brand has to enforce their trademarks ( it was like a dozen of names so I think it’s a good amount to defend) and the other brand should have checked before using the names. Live and learn. I cannot give my opinions on any of their products beacuse I haven’t tried any but both seem like a lot 😂 😅
Thank you Janixa for the thorough information. All I own is KL Polish and LL polishes. When LL changed their bottles to the new one they kinda killed my vibe cause it messed up my storage 😅 ~ but no biggie! I was so curious to understand what had happened here and you answered all of my questions thank you!! I honestly think business is business like you said. Maybe Kathleen needs to invest on a better knowledgeable legal team to guide her so this does not happen again! She should’ve given in on the first warning. Oh well I hope this will be a lesson learned for her. Love what you do!!! ❤❤
I wonder how many other polish brands trademark their names. I can think of a number of duplicate names among brands, "Happy Camper", being one. Thank you for this interesting report! Britt
Ok I’m not shocked anymore. They are perfectly with in their right to protect their brand. They have the trademarks for a reason and they are allowed to uphold it. Companies protect their trademarks all the time.
Yeah honestly I don't think it was a one time thing. She had probably been saying that word before for it to come out so casually. If she hadn't been caught she would probably still be saying it😬
I agree with you, Janixa. The law is the law. Btw, in case no one has said yet, ambiguous means things are unclear; open to interpretation; having a double meaning. (I used to be a teacher, so I couldn't resist.😅) I hope you have a lovely weekend.
It’d be one thing if LL had used one female name, I don’t think it would’ve been an issue. But to have that many with the same names seems like intentional copying of a brand. Sure, we can argue over the originality of Zoya’s naming convention but that’s how they’ve chosen to run their business and have taken the legal steps to secure it. For another brand to then release the same type of product with the same naming convention seems deliberate, even if they are widely used names overall. Surely we wouldn’t think that a nail polish brand could start naming their colors with Suzi in the name, even though it is a female first name? Thank you, Janixa, I always enjoy your deep dives into businesses as well as the “regularly scheduled” programming! I will gladly tune in for more of these insightful videos. I’m old and only recently got back into nail polish and it has been a wild ride filled with controversies. We’ve come far from the supermarket reds, pinks, and pearls of my youth.
We see nail polishes with the same name all the time, and without the drama (that I am aware of) @nailsbytheniche even has a few videos on her RU-vid channel comparing polishes with the same name for fun, since the colours and finishes can be vastly different. Weird that Zoya has been trademarking given names though, it’s an odd way to spend money and energy…because you do have to protect that trademark (as commented earlier).
Interesting! Thanks for doing the research and sharing with us. I don’t understand everyone in the comments who are boycotting Zoya over this. Personally I’m more concerned about Kathleen Lights use if the n word and lack of a real apology vs. a brand protecting their trademarks but that’s just me. 😅 The whole world of trademarks is crazy - like how the Great British Bake Off has to be the Baking Show in the US because Bake Off is trademarked by Pillsbury. So this type of thing is not uncommon and it often seems silly and/or petty but that’s business for ya, right? 🤷🏻♀️
I love Zoya- one of my top favorite nail polish brands. I do not see anything wrong with what they are doing- it is their right as a business. Also for those STILL complaining about the brush.. I have not paid for the z-wide brush in ages.. I wait for sales (as I do with other polish brands) and 99.9% of the time Zoya gives you the Z-wide brushes for free. So it is a win-win. Feel free to support whatever business you choose, as for me, I will continue to purchase from Zoya.❤ Thanks for the scoop Janixa- very interesting to say the least lol.
Janixa, your other true calling is investigative reporting. Thank you for sharing this information. My opinion, no one is going to mistaken Lights Lacquer for Zoya. Maybe since we’re nail polish enthusiasts, this seems unnecessary for a lawsuit.
What a bad look, I feel like Julep did women's names first I knew about them 10 years ago or longer, I heard of zoya this year and none of their polishes has made me say "I need that". This is really sad,, like is this why julep died?! This seems like a power-hungry move that reflects their sales due to the indie market taking over. Just make better polishes, don't come after a brand that definitely is not trying to look like or imitate yours. This is sad to me, and really they are bringing up a 6 year old incident to try to justify why they are abusing the law to be ugly. Yikes. I just can't ever believe how much drama is in the nail community 😒
Zoya has been around for over 25 years so they came first. I think Julep is no longer in business because people realized how expensive they were for so little product.
@@naillacquertherapy I'm just saying if it weren't for all of you amazing swatchers, zoya wouldn't even be on my radar, and this moved feels icky to me haha, just like everyone else just saying what I feel
BTW, Holo Taco did a great program a couple of years ago on their podcast on their experience with copyright. They explain everything really well. And they talked about a funny interaction with Taco Bell, who apparently was concerned about their use of the word "taco".
No one is confused...we all know it's bullying a smaller brand 😭 Zoya is the one damaging their own reputation here 😂 They don't have copyright the whole letter is just some bored junior lawyer making empty threats. So stupid for a women's beauty care brand to be aggressive. Nail polish is a safe pleasurable space and Zoya has just violated that. I feel personally attacked by Zoya targeting a hardworking lady business owner too. HOW DARE ZOYA try and control usage of woman's names! Wish I could sue them for using MY name without my permission 😆
I never expected drama in this hobby that I've picked up. I'm kind of here for the tea. Big companies are always out for money, and I can see why Zoya made the power move. As a small company (LL), I would have just heeded the C&D letter and changed the names before it continued. She'll likely go out of business/lose alot of money as a result. Shame. I haven't tried either brands personally but am definitely interested in this.
WTF? I worked in assorted law firms for over 20 years. Maybe things have changed, but common names were poor candidates for trademark for anything outside of the brand name. That Zoya actually filed--and got approved using common first names-? I'd be suing the trademark office for incompetence. What if I want to put my own name on a nail polish. It's my bloody name, so who the bloody hell is Zoya to tell me (or anyone else) I can't use that common name for my nail polish? Lights Lacquer should countersue for a vexatious lawsuit. And maybe it's time I sued Zoya for not only trademarking my name, but also defaming me by putting it on one of the most vomit-inducing shades of all time.
Idk...it seems like a crazy coincidence to me. Some of those names are identical, and even the ones that aren't are too similar. I can really see their point.
I kinda think it was bold for Kathleen to not only use the same names, but ignore the cease. Like as a business owner maybe even with legal counsel avoid this before you get sued and have egg on your face. Maybe she shouldve paid for extra "damage control" 😊
I really appreciate your making this video and doing the work and expaloning everything. As a nail polish enthusiast I like to know what's going on and you did the deep digging for us. I'm not a fan of either company but I'm curious if the colors foe each companies' names were similar. Gonna do some googling now. Great video!
I can see the point since both are nail polish brands. It's not like it's a totally different product. Having said that, most consumers are smart enough to know what brand they are buying. They underestimate how dang brilliant nail polish hounds are hahaha.
Dude, Zoya is bs. They name every shade after a name, they can't just sue anyone who uses that same naming scheme... Lots of brands both indie and main stream use same or similar names for their polishes, if Zoya wins, then any mainstream will go after anyone they can and then polishes will just not be named. This enrages me soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. I have one of Zoya's and this is gonna be the reason why I won't buy from them anymore. Greedy afffffff!!! EDIT: It would be different if someone was also doing a textured polish form and they were calling it Pixie Dust, but not a name Zoya!
@@henny8883 It's giving me the same energy as Kim Kardashian trying to trademark the word 'kimono' for her skims line. With this, this means anyone with a very common name going into this business and wants to name a polish after them or someone that they care about with a common name has to start using numbers and underscores so that anyone who is greedy wouldn't want to go after them because they called their polish Mia or Julia. Like, Zoya doesn't own any specific colors or names even if they trademarked it doesn't mean that they invented it. Yes, this energy does need to be on Zoya because at the end of the day they are own by a big corporate, they aren't some indie brand with their hands tied, they are greedy people who sees a common name that may or may not be common due to social media or whatever and then marked it for theirs. It would be one thing if those polishes were like carbon copies of each other, and there may be some cases that they were close but KL's looks like to be all cremes or basic shimmers where Zoya's side is a mix of their cremes and Pixie Dust. To me, without the lawsuit, if I saw those polishes side by side, I would have gone with Zoya over KL just due to knowing that I love my Delilah and wanting more Pixie Dust, but with all of this, it just leaves me with a bad impression. In all honesty, if Zoya didn't sue, I would have no interest in KL's brand whatsoever other than seeing the matching names and buying both to compare because I like to do that sort of thing, especially if they are two completely different polishes. To me, with this lawsuit and how it goes down, it may start the domino effect on how people/businesses name polish when there are thousands of them. Like, that is a part of the fun of being a collector is the names and the colors/finishes and with this, they might start not naming them all together just so they won't get sued, and to me that's sad. Pretty much when there are countless indie brands and maybe even more mainstream brands out there, I am going to take the energy that brands give and use it and this whole mess gave me the ick for Zoya, period.
#UnpopularOpinion I'm glad! Kathleen gets away with too much bs! (I don't care tbh; these people are millionaires off of us and many consumers are struggling AF)
She does get away with a lot. I think it’s because she constantly plays at her fans emotions. For example, with this lawsuit, she said something like, “all of this happening on international women’s day”. No, the lawsuit started back in Sept. that was very manipulative because then all her fans were leaving mean comments on Zoya’s page talking about, “how could you do this on international women’s day?!” 🙄
@@naillacquertherapy omgggg you are so right! When everything was happening the last time we were supposed to quickly forget because a hurricane was passing their way and they had to evacuate. Like that doesn’t happen every hurricane season. I live in the Caribbean; we know to be prepared as soon as we have our “rainy season”. Having genuine life problems doesn’t absolve me from making mistakes and then attempting to manipulate people into not holding me accountable. In my opinion, Kathleen has weaponized her mental health and youthful appearance to get out of being held accountable. I can not put money in her pocket.
What about Loud Laquer shades like Wynnette and Mimi? I wonder if Zoya just had it out for this brand and then found a reason? Seems like a common naming method. I'm surprised they succeed.
Who knows??? Maybe there was more of a pattern with LL or maybe they send out letters in order to establish a friendly co-exist agreement where their trademarks are still protected and both companies go about their business. However this requires both parties to communicate prior to a lawsuit.
About the names that are similar, but not the same or not spelled the same, e.g., Julia vs Jules, Nora vs Norra, Zoey vs Zooey, does Zoya really have a legal leg to stand on with their trademark infringement right? Sounds like they are trying to claim a trademark to ALL female names being used as nail polish names, whether they have the trademark for the exact name or not. I take issue to that. I'd love a Nancy polish. Zoya doesn't have one. Are they going to go after a brand for making one? What about Rebecca? They have Becca and have used Bekka in the past, but they don't have a Rebecca. Is another brand making a "Rebecca" polish going to get them sued by Zoya, and would Zoya win?
The wording of the trademark includes female names for nail polishes. So even though they may be spelled differently the trademark can be upheld. Zoya can take legal action and if it falls under their trademark they will win.
@@bleeka325 If you had enough money, I still think any decent lawyer could contest that and win though...there is just decades and decades of precedent to cite that it is a common industry practice.
@@bleeka325 Specifically I meant the alternate spellings...but also it is a common practice to use the same or similar names. It goes to other types of products as well. Many furniture companies will carry a line of products designated Napa, or Hamptons, or some such. I don't mean the companies name, rather the name of a line of products...but they are probably all suing each other all the time so...but there have been cases that companies lost because the trademark was deemed to be over reach. Also, companies lose in the public opinion/publicity sphere...there were some cases that came up last year with cookie companies and trademark, and they didn't even share a name...they were trade marking a similar color box? Pink boxes for baked goods have been a default generic option for forever...but go ahead with trade marking pink boxes...the companies just come off as bullies.
No interest in buying from Zoya again. Their loss of revenue from LL also using a few female names is $0. Their loss from losing customers will be a great deal more. As an attorney, I can say just having the legal right to file suit is not always the smartest business move, and in this case, it is a completely foolish business decision.
Sometimes you have to do certain things though. For example, they could lose their trademarks if they don’t protect them. If we were going to get angry at every company that sues to protect their trademark, well, we’d be angry all the time.
So my opinion is that if Zoya doesn’t put a stop to LL naming polishes female names now LL will continue to do it. Zoya is known for naming colors after women’s name and LL probably knows that Zoya had the trademark. We may not agree to the lawsuit but as a company I understand them wanting to put a stop to this now. Maybe 1 or 2 names they probably let slide as a mistake but they are a business and I get where they’re coming from.
Giiirrrrllll... i was watching another vid, i saw this in the feed and clicked off that one and on to this so fast! 😆 i'm like ooo she's got documents.. let me get a drink & get settled in! 🫖 My opinion echoes yours on the matter. Like yeah.. settle down, Zoya! But Lights got a big fat heads up with the letter. I bet they def had to pay damages. Zoya spent $$ taking it to that level.
PS Don't know or care who Kathleen Lights is (she might have said a slur while playing VR with J.Hill but I could be wrong) but this makes me want to go out and try her brand rather than go to Zoya's. Good thing they have a list of the name changes so I know what to pick and rename when they are in my hands. EDIT: Looked more into her and idk if I will try her out, buuuut I will still use that template for if I want to buy some from her.
I’ve already watched the video but I came back because as I was watching it I kept thinking I wonder if other popular brands trademark names as well like OPI or Essie then I remembered Ella + Milla has a polish in their line called “Island Hopping” just like Essie. So this could only happen between brands if one brand has the trademark for that name? You’d think their teams would check all of this stuff out before going to production.
Unpopular opinion, but I'm more so on Zoya's side here. If you're really into nail polish, you know they use female first names for all their polishes. Lights Lacquer could have avoided ALL of this by doing their due diligence and responding to the cease & desist in a timely manner. If I owned a nail polish brand & I wanted to use someone's name, all I would need to do is add to the name. An example might be "Julia Saves The Day" instead of just "Julia". THEN Zoya wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on. Whoever is running things for Kathleen over at Lights Lacquer needs to reevaluate how they make decisions.
Makes me wonder if this is why Julep stopped doing nail polishes?? Most of their polishes were named after FEMALE NAMES!! EDIT: 16:18 should have watched the whole video first! I can't believe I made the connection!! Julep still does exist, they just don't sell nail polish anymore
I had no idea that companies can trademark people’s names. Clearly Zoya is on top of their game and has done their due diligence. Good for them for protecting their interests.
@@naillacquertherapy Yes I totally get that from the document you read. Seems like people in the comments are more upset that companies can trademark names but that’s not Zoya’s fault. Zoya did what they were supposed to do so no one can pull a KOZE on them.
