Rebel Creamery files for bankruptcy protection after losing $23.8M trademark lawsuit

Despite frozen dessert popularity and ice cream brands’ visible market growth, one major brand has been forced to file for bankruptcy protection amid an expensive lawsuit.

Rebel Creamery LLC, one of the most popular ice cream manufacturers, which sells its Rebel Ice Cream at major retailers, including Walmart and Target, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its debts after losing a trademark infringement lawsuit judgment.

Ice cream brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The Utah-based manufacturer filed its petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah on Friday, August 14, listing $10 million to $50 million in assets and liabilities.

All legalities against Rebel Creamery are temporarily suspended as the company goes through the bankruptcy process.

The debtor filed its petition after Judge Eric Komitee of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on July 16 awarded plaintiff ice cream company Van Leeuwen $23.8 million in disgorged profits from Rebel Creamery for violating its trademark rights based on the defendant’s use of similar product packaging.

Trademark lawsuit and its ruling

In his order, Judge Komitee ruled that that Rebel Creamery intentionally copied Van Leeuwen’s branding and ordered the defendant to redesign its ice cream packaging.

According to court documents, the packaging consists of cardboard monochromatic pints with matching monochromatic lids, use of a pastel colour palette, black script typeface lettering with an exaggerated capital letter, and an overall minimalist design aesthetic.

As per the court, there was actual confusion in the marketplace between Van Leeuwen and Rebel due to similar packaging.

The judge rewarded Van Leeuwen $23.785 million of Rebel’s profit, which they secured from selling disputed ice cream pints.

About Van Leeuwen

Van Leeuwen was founded in 2008 and redesigned its packaging in 2014 and again to its current design in August 2016, according to Komitee’s order.

The ice cream brand’s annual growth rate more than doubled from 35.8% between 2014 and 2016 to 91.6% between 2017 and 2018.

Meanwhile, Rebel Creamery was founded in September 2017, over a year after Van Leeuwen’s latest redesign of its packaging.

Rebel’s packaging began appearing in grocery stores in August 2018 and was discovered by a Van Leeuwen employee in late 2018 or early 2019, according to court papers.

Van Leeuwen filed lawsuit in 2021

Following the shocking discovery, Van Leeuwen filed its lawsuit against Rebel Creamery in April 2021, seeking injunctive relief requiring Rebel to repackage its products and account for and pay for the profits from its infringement, which has not been ruled in Van Leeuwen’s favour.