Children’s clothing brand Garanimals filed a lawsuit on Monday against Northern California cannabis grower Grizzly Peak Farms LLC for alleged trademark infringement.
Garanimals, founded in the 1970’s, sells affordable children’s clothing at more than 4,700 Walmarts across the United States, and has raked in more than $4 billion in retail sales in the past five years. The brand gained recognition for its innovative system of animal hang-tags that help with the selection of clothes at point-of-sale and sewn-in animal labels that assist children with mixing and matching tops and bottoms, the lawsuit states.
Defendant Grizzly Peak was launched in 2017, and currently sells cannabis products under the Granimals name. Products branded as Granimals contain a marijuana strain made by crossing Grape Pie and Animal Cookies strains, according to the company’s website. Plaintiffs claim the use of this name constitutes trademark infringement.
“By impermissibly using the GARANIMALS Marks to sell cannabis-derived products that are controversial and in some cases illegal, Defendant tarnishes and damages the reputation of the GARANIMALS brand by affiliating it with products and conduct that are inconsistent with the wholesome, playful, innocent, and family-friendly sentiments that underlie the GARANIMALS brand, and that provide GARANIMALS products with a significant portion of their market value,” the lawsuit states.
Plaintiffs claim trademark dilution under Section 1125 (c) of Title 15 of the United States Code and Section 14247 of the California Business and Professions Code, and unfair competition under Section 17200 of the California Business and Professions Code. They are seeking to enjoin Grizzly Peak from using the Garanimals trademark, service mark, corporate name or domain name, as well as monetary damages.
Plaintiffs are represented by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
