Nivea Sues Connie Ferguson For ‘Stealing Product Design’! The actress ventured into beauty products industry a few years ago and her lotion brand has grown to become a household name in South Africa over the years.
Nivea has accused Connie of stealing their product design especially the Connie Body Care Men Active Shower Gel. Beiersdorf AG which owns Nivea claims Connie’s version has copied everything from the blue container to the silver and yellow font of its Nivea Men range. If the courts agree that Connie has broken copyright laws then the company will have to change the design of their product, perhaps with the help of design experts like Kaizen Brand Evolution, so that the won’t be any confusion between the two brands.
Beiersdorf AG, owner of the international brand, has taken the matter to court, accusing the actress’ company, Koni Multinational Brands, of creating almost identical brand designs.
“In 2008 the applicant re-launched its Nivea Men range by, inter alia, applying a new get-up to its Nivea Men packaging, the applicant added the colour silver to its distinctive blue and white get-up. The applicant is, in fact, aware of actual confusion in the trade,” the company’s lawyer Adams & Adams stated in court papers, according to SowetanLIVE.
Connie and her business partner Groovin Nchabeleng have dismissed the claims that their product was causing confusion and accused the international brand of bullying them.
“The applicant cannot claim monopoly over the blue, white and silver colours. The respondent is bringing healthy competition to the men’s shower gel market, and the applicant, being an international company, is trying to bully and intimidate the respondent by bringing this baseless application,” reads court documents, according to Sowetan.
Beiersdorf AG has reportedly asked the court for all products from Connie’s men’s range to be removed from the shelves as they are “likely to cause confusion or deception in the market”.
