Jo Malone has issued a public statement after the Estée Lauder Cos. filed a lawsuit against her in the U.K. courts for trademark infringement, passing off and breach of contract.
The company confirmed the legal filings against the perfumer — founder of the Jo Malone brand, her fragrance house Jo Loves Ltd., Jo Loves (Wholesale Ltd.) and ITX UK Ltd., (formerly Zara UK Ltd.) — in early March.
In an Instagram video shared Wednesday, Malone introduced herself as “the person, fragrance creator, the entrepreneur, the cancer survivor.” She said: “I never expected to receive a High Court claim with my name on it. And truly I was, and am, in this very minute, very surprised and very sad.
“And I’ll tell you why I am, because this claim isn’t against me, it’s against Zara as well,” she continued.
After selling her eponymous fragrance business to Lauder in 1999, and subsequently leaving the company in 2006, Malone founded Jo Loves in 2011, but only after her five-year non-compete clause ran out. Eight years later, she launched an eight-scent line with Inditex, the parent company of Zara, named Zara Emotions by Jo Loves. The collection was sold in stores across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico before it entered Zara’s U.S. assortment in 2020.
Since then, new fragrances have been developed with packaging that reads: “A collection created by Jo Malone CBE, founder of Jo Loves.” CBE refers to the honor, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which Malone received in 2018 by King Charles III.
Other fragrance bottles say: “A collection created by Ms. Jo Malone CBE, founder of Jo Loves.”
The Zara Emotions Collection by Jo Loves, created by the perfumer Jo Malone.
Image Courtesy of Zara
In her message on Instagram, Malone ran listeners through the timeline of her work with the global retailer. “Can I point out as well, I think this is very important,” she said. “We have gone above and beyond and above and beyond again to make sure everyone understands this has nothing to do with Jo Malone London the company. This is very much Jo Malone by using Ms. Jo Malone CBE, Jo Malone, creative director of Jo Loves.”
Malone continued: “We’ve literally done as much as we possibly can to ensure we train the staff, everything. What more can we do? What more could I do?”
The fragrance creator admitted to feeling uncertain about what’s next. “Who can I be?” she asked. “I can’t stop being a person. Nobody can stop being the character and the person that you are.” She also questioned why the Estée Lauder Cos. has taken legal action against her now, arguing it “doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“If it was wrong now, it would have been wrong on Day One and nobody did anything about it,” Malone said. “The third question is, Where do we go from here? If it can’t be me, who on earth am I meant to be for the rest of my life?”
She continued: “I sold a company, I did not sell myself. I didn’t sell what was up there, what’s in here and my future. That I didn’t sell and never would. So now the simple truth is those collections were created by me, the person, the identity, the human, nothing more, nothing less.”
Malone concluded her message by stating she and her team were “putting together their defense” and it will soon be made public knowledge. If she has to, Malone said she’s ready to defend her name in court. However, she hopes it won’t come to that. “I hope sense will prevail, and we will find a new and different way of being able to work in the same marketplace,” she added.
At the time of the filing, a spokesperson for the Estée Lauder Cos. said, “over the past 25 years, the Estée Lauder Companies has invested significantly in building Jo Malone London. Today it stands as an iconic global brand, with extraordinary brand equity and a distinct identity that is beloved around the world.”
The company continued: “When Ms. Jo Malone sold the brand to the Estée Lauder Companies in 1999, she agreed to clear contractual terms that included refraining from using the Jo Malone name in certain commercial contexts, including the marketing of fragrances. She was compensated as part of this agreement, and for many years, she abided by its terms.
“Ms. Malone’s use of the name ‘Jo Malone’ in connection with recent commercial ventures goes beyond that legal agreement and undermines Jo Malone London’s unique brand equity. 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,” the statement finished.
