Patent Court Sides with LG H&H
LG Household & Health Care has won a trademark dispute with Two Faced, a U.S. cosmetics company affiliated with Estee Lauder.
The Patent Court of Korea has recognized the legitimacy of LG Household & Health Care's "Born This Way" trademark, which is used for the company's daily beauty products.
Two Faced, a California-based cosmetics company , has filed a suit with the court to invalidate the Korean company's trademark, yet the court dismissed the plaintiff's claim.
LG Household & Health Care selected "Born This Way" as a product name, inspired by a song of American pop singer Lady Gaga, and applied for the registration of it as a trademark in November 2015. The company then cast popular actors as advertising models and sold Born This Way sun cushions and shampoos through home shopping and online malls. On the other hand, Two Faced has used its "Born This Way" trademark for foundation products in the United States since May 2015.
The patent court noted that "Born This Way" is an idiomatic expression widely used in English-speaking countries and is already widely known to the public as the title of Lady Gaga's global hit song.
In addition, the court noted that Two Faced has a very low market share in the U.S. cosmetics market and has not promoted "Born This Way" via major media outlets such as newspapers, TVs, and magazines. Consequently, the trademark can hardly be seen as a trademark of a specific company (Two Faced) in light of the size of the U.S. cosmetics market, the court said.