Salon owner’s ‘Pyrrhic victory’ as L’Oréal trademark dispute hearing nears

A salon owner has said she is “vindicated” but frustrated after being told global cosmetics firm L’Oréal was dropping parts of a long-running trademark dispute it has with her.

The French firm has been opposing Rebecca Dowdeswell’s attempt to renew the trademark of her Leicester-based business – nkd – since 2022, arguing the name could be confused with its own cosmetics range called Naked.

The case is set to go before an Intellectual Property Office (IPO) tribunal on Wednesday, but Ms Dowdeswell said L’Oréal had now “backed down” on elements of its case, in what her lawyer called a “Pyrrhic victory”.

L’Oréal said it was committed to resolving the dispute in a “mutually agreeable way”.

The mother of two, from Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, held the nkd trademark name since 2009, but admitted she forgot to renew it in 2019 during a six-month window.

When she later tried to re-register it, L’Oréal objected saying her use of the name could cause “consumer confusion”.

“I feel vindicated but it’s also very frustrating,” Ms Dowdeswell said.

“They have conceded nearly everything on waxing and hair removal services, and with my products they have agreed a far wider spec [specification] for me to use.

“This is the position I would have liked to have been in years ago.”

Ms Dowdeswell said she had paid more than £30,000 in legal costs fighting her case, adding the pressure of the continuing legal action had been a factor in her decision to close a salon she ran in Nottingham city centre.

She added: “I don’t really feel victorious. This whole thing has dominated my life.

“L’Oréal says they want to resolve this in a mutually agreeable way.

“They haven’t acted that way though. They have kept trying to wear me down.”

Ms Dowdeswell’s trademark attorney Aaron Wood said: “This is another step forward in the battle – a partial win.

“This week L’Oréal has sent an official communication saying it is dropping its opposition to part of Rebecca’s trademark.

“All the way to this point, they had been objecting to her trademark as a whole which included services she had done since 2009 such as waxing and hair removal.

“Now at this very late stage, they have said they are not going to object to those services and some connected goods. That’s a real relief for Rebecca.

“It’s just a shame they have decided that so late in the proceedings, after such cost and time.

“There has been a lot of cost and stress and wasted time because of the moves L’Oréal has taken.”

Mr Wood said he hoped Ms Dowdeswell would be able to recover some of the cost she had incurred.

He added: “It is still to some extent a Pyrrhic victory [a victory that comes at a heavy cost to the victor], but it comes at a terrible commercial cost [to Rebecca] that L’Oréal can’t ever repay.”

Mr Wood said there was still a dispute over use of the nkd trademark on products Ms Dowdeswell hoped to develop in the future to expand her business.

“We’ll be arguing in any case that the words Naked and nkd would not be confused and people would not think they were businesses connected to one another,” he added.

A L’Oréal spokesperson said: “Since 2022 L’Oréal’s position has never changed or been updated.

“We have always been willing to work with Rebecca Dowdeswell to support her business aspirations whilst respecting our longstanding trademark rights.

“The proceedings are still ongoing and we remain wholly committed to resolving this matter in a mutually agreeable way.”

The BBC understands L’Oréal does not object to Ms Dowdeswell’s trademark application for goods and services she currently provides, but remains opposed to an application by Ms Dowdeswell for other goods and services which she does not operate and which it says encroaches on its existing Naked trademark.

The IPO has said a decision on the case is expected between six and nine months after Wednesday’s hearing.