Kool brand cigarettes, first introduced over 88 years ago in 1933, have filed a lawsuit in California federal court claiming that Bloom Brands, a California cannabis business has infringed upon its trademarked logo, particularly the imagery and usage of the Double-O graphic.
Kool is an American brand of menthol cigarette that is currently owned and manufactured by ITG Brands LLC, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco Company. Outside of the United States Kool cigarettes are manufactured by British American Tobacco.
Bloom Brands logo utilizes an interlocking “O” letter design that confusingly resembles ITG Brand LLC’s famous Kool logo, according to the complaint filed Thursday January 28th, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
ITG also states that Capna Intellectual, which owns Bloom Brands, has applied for federal trademarks covering Bloom for e-cigarettes and oral vaporizers. ITG said it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Capna in December.
The complaint believes that the Bloom marks are intended to trade off of Kool’s and calls the logo a “rip-off” of their longstanding image.
Trademark disputes are no stranger to the marijuana industry. Nerds and The Hershey Co. both have filed alleged trademark violations in response to edible products containing names or likeness to their brand products.
