PinkLighthouse.com » mary kay lawsuit touch of pink cosmetics

Mary Kay Wins Lawsuit Against Touch of Pink Cosmetics

L J — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:35:07 +0000

Straight from the court decision document:

After a trial on the merits, the jury found that Defendants infringed Mary Kay’s
trademarks and engaged in unfair competition and passing off with the specific intent to cause
confusion, to cause mistake, and to deceive. The jury also rejected all of Defendants’ affirmative
defenses, and awarded Mary Kay an accounting of profits. Based on the jury’s verdict, Mary
Kay now seeks the entry judgment for the amount of $1,139,962.00, plus post-judgment interest
at the applicable legal rate.

Yep. That’s over 1.25 million dollars that Mary Kay is now trying to get from Touch of Pink.

Ouch.

Touch of Pink Cosmetics and Mary Kay Inc Agree to Mediation

L J — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:32:09 +0000

Mary Kay Inc and Touch of Pink Cosmetics have agreed to enter into mediation to settle their dispute.

The original court date set for this fall has been moved back to February 2009.

We’ll keep you posted when there is more to tell.

Touch of Pink Cosmetics Files Response to Mary Kay Inc. (part 2)

L J — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:22:14 +0000

As I said in my last post, Touch of Pink Cosmetics denied many of the allegations put forth by Mary Kay Inc. in the lawsuit.

While some were run of the mill, there were several that were significant:

1. The Webers deny that their conduct in running Touch of Pink Cosmetics contituted, and continues to constitute “passing off.”

Mary Kay Inc. claims that Touch of Pink Cosmetics confused or deceived customers into thinking that they were affiliated with Mary Kay Inc. Basically, “passing off” is an unfair competition theory that says a defendant is representing themselves in a way that the consumer wrongly believes that they are dealing with the plaintiff’s company.

Mary Kay Inc. will have to prove that Touch of Pink represented their business in such a way that consumers may have thought they were purchasing products directly from Mary Kay Inc.

2. The Webers deny that their conduct infringes on the Mary Kay trademark and that these actions were willful.

They are denying that they used, without authorization, registered marks of Mary Kay and did so knowingly and deliberately. This trademark infringement allegation is a biggie and could have implications for others selling Mary Kay products on eBay and their own sites.

3. The Webers deny that their conduct constitutes unfair competition and trademark infringement under Texas law.

Another one to watch closely.

4. The Webers deny that they have willfully and knowingly subverted the Mary Kay direct sales model by improperly obtaining Mary Kay products by interfering with Mary Kay contracts (with the Consultants.)

By soliciting Consultants to sell inventory to them, Mary Kay Inc. claims that Touch of Pink Cosmetics has interfered with their sales structure.

So those are the biggies I’m going to watch. If Mary Kay Inc. can prove these allegations, it will not only make the Webers unhappy, but it will effect other Mary Kay inventory liquidators as well.

Touch of Pink Cosmetics Files Response to Lawsuit by Mary Kay Inc. (part 1)

L J — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:23:51 +0000

Touch of Pink Cosmetics filed their response the the charges alleged by Mary Kay Inc. in their lawsuit filed May 7, 2008.

There aren’t any surprises in the response from owners Amy and Scott Weber. The Webers deny most of the allegations set forth by Mary Kay Inc. or state that they are “without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations.”

Some Allegations That Touch of Pink Cosmetics Admits To:

1. That Amy Weber was previously a Mary Kay Consultant and that she was terminated by the company on September 17, 2005.

2. Scott and Amy Weber admit they advertise and sell Mary Kay products on the Touch of Pink website, but deny they are required to have the authorization of Mary Kay Inc. to do so.

3. Scott and Amy Weber admit they advertise and sell Mary Kay products on eBay, but deny they are required to have the authorization of Mary Kay Inc. to do so.

4. They admit that Amy Weber is no longer a Mary Kay Consultant

5. They admit that Touch of Pink Cosmetics does not purchase inventory directly from Mary Kay Inc.

All these admissions don’t add up to much. And I wouldn’t expect them to. The Webers, like any defendent, will only admit to the things in the lawsuit that they know to be absolutely true. Mary Kay Inc. has the burden to prove all the allegations in the lawsuit.

Some Allegations That Touch of Pink Cosmetics Denys:

1. That through the Touch of Pink website and eBay store, the Webers unlawfully mass market Mary Kay products across the globe.

2. That the Webers are required to have the authorization or consent of Mary Kay to use the Mary Kay name to describe the product for sale.

3. The Webers deny Mary Kay Inc.’s assumption that Touch of Pink purchased products from consultants unlawfully by inducind consultants to buy products from Mary Kay Inc. and then sell to Touch of Pink, in violation of the consultant’s Beauty Consultant Agreement.

4. That by advertising Touch of Pink online, the Webers have created the false impression in the consumer’s mind that Touch of Pink Cosmetics is affiliated with Mary Kay Inc.

That’s just a brief list.

But there are some significant allegations that the Webers deny.

Mary Kay’s Lawsuit Against Touch of Pink Cosmetics

L J — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:47:20 +0000

We have obtained the full complaint filed by Mary Kay against Touch of Pink Cosmetics and owners Amy and Scott Weber.

Here is the entire 71 page complaint, in pdf form.

Mary Kay Inc. v Amy L. Weber, Scott J. Weber, and Touch of Pink Cosmetics

Mary Kay Inc claims that Amy Weber sold Mary Kay products on eBay and thus violated her Mary Kay Beauty Consultant Agreement. Mary Kay Inc. issued several “pleas” for Amy Weber to stop selling on eBay and when she didn’t, Mary Kay Inc. terminated her Mary Kay Consultant Agreement.

The Webers continued selling Mary Kay products on their website, TouchofPinkCosmetics.com and in their eBay Store.

Mary Kay Inc. is claiming that the Webers caused other Mary Kay Consultants to violated their Consultant Agreement by selling products to Touch of Pink instead of ultimate consumers.

Touch of Pink Cosmetics claims that they can help Consultants “balance your inventory and implement profit making strategies” and Touch of Pink also sent out email newsletters, apparently, soliciting products from current Consultants.

There is much more to this than just the above issue. More to come on this one.