Kim Kardashian launches SKN by Kim despite cease and desist claim

Kim Kardashian launches SKKN by Kim, with marketing campaign video featuring Kim herself explaining the story and development behind her new skincare brand. Kim explains in the @skkn instagram video, what makes the products unique is her experience trying different products to find the best ones, that the formulations were created in collaboration with her favourite dermatologist and the product packaging is designed to look sleek on your beauty counter.

However, the excitement around SKKN by Kim has been casted with a shadow as Forbes had first reported Kim Kardashian was hit with a cease and desist from a Black-owned salon, operating under ‘SKKN+’ when she first announced the skincare brand name last year. The @skknplus operating Skin care salon services, care services and Beauty spa services called Kim out for picking a confusingly similar name to her salon, although she did not own a trademark, she sent a ‘cease and desist’ based on common law rights.

SKKN by Kim had filed trademarks under salon and beauty services in addition to beauty and skincare products. Her legal team decided to ‘expressively abandon’ the trademarks for beauty and salon services, and continue to focus the name on skincare products.

A year later, the ‘SKKN+’ salon has not secured an officially registered trademark, as well as ‘SKKN by Kim’ has not received a trademark yet for any of their 10+ applications. Interestingly enough, ‘SKN by LH’ aka. Lori Harvey’s @sknbylh brand has been granted allowance and is awaiting a statement of use to be officially registered.