Jo Malone sued by Estee Lauder for using her own name on Zara scents
by Emily Hawkins · Mail OnlineBritish businesswoman Jo Malone has been sued by Estee Lauder for using her own name on her perfumes for Zara.
Estee Lauder Companies - which owns brands Estee Lauder, M.A.C and Bobbi Brown, as well as Jo Malone London - has filed legal action over Malone’s range of fragrances with the High Street fashion chain Zara.
She is being sued over breach of contract, trademark infringement and ‘passing off’ - which refers to misleading shoppers into thinking that products are connected to another business, according to The Financial Times.
Malone, 62, sold her perfume empire to the US cosmetics giant for millions in 1999.
But she has called the sale ‘the worst decision of my life’ because the agreement blocked her from using her name for commercial reasons and stopped her working in the industry for years.
Malone launched her own business after her non-compete clause expired in 2011, called Jo Loves. It sells £35 perfumes in a collaboration with Zara.
Estee Lauder has taken issue with the wording on the perfume packaging, which calls them ‘a creation by Jo Malone CBE, founder of Jo Loves’.
A spokesman for Estee Lauder said that Malone had agreed ‘to clear contractual terms that included refraining from using the Jo Malone name in certain commercial contexts, including the marketing of fragrances’ in the 1999 sale.
They said she was compensated in the sale and ‘for many years, she abided by its terms’ but her use of the name recently ‘goes beyond that legal agreement and undermines Jo Malone London’s unique brand equity.’
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They added: ‘We respect Ms Malone’s right to pursue new opportunities. But legally binding contractual obligations cannot be disregarded, and when those terms are breached, we will protect the brand that we have invested in and built over decades.’
Other founders to sell away the rights to their name include make-up artist Bobbi Brown, who sold her name to Estee Lauder but has set up her own ‘Jones Road’ brand.
Zara, which is owned by Spanish fashion giant Inditex, did not want to comment.
Malone has not commented on the legal dispute. She updated her Instagram followers this week to say she was safe following attacks on Dubai, where she has been living with her family since 2021. ‘We’re living day to day,’ she said.
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