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Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila settles lawsuit after claims it ‘brazenly’ copied a rival brand

Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has settled a lawsuit with rival brand Tequila 512, after the latter claimed that Jenner’s bottle was “brazenly” copied from its own design.

Kendall Jenner 818 Tequila
Credit: Instagram/ Kendall Jenner

Kendall Jenner has enjoyed considerable success with her burgeoning Tequila brand, 818, but it has not all been plain sailing for the supermodel turned entrepreneur.

The American socialite was branded “irresponsible” by online critics after she posted an image of herself sipping from a bottle of her Tequila through a straw, but it was a lawsuit filed by rival Tequila brand, 512, that was settled in recent days.

The lawsuit stated that 512 Tequila uses an “immediately recognizable 512 mark in black lettering inside a vertical yellow rectangle.” The brand’s trademark was established in 2015.

It claimed that Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila had used the same branding with only “immaterial tweaks.”

However, 818 refuted the claims at the time, stating, “818 does not believe there is any merit to these claims.

“We cannot otherwise comment on the matter.”

However, per TMZ and others, it now seems that the two brands have settled their differences. The celebrity news site reported that 818 and 512 had resolved the lawsuit, with CEO of Tequila 512, Nick Matzorkis stating:

“Tequila 512’s lawsuit against 818 Tequila has been resolved. The parties have agreed that they will each have the right to use their existing names and they will both make changes to their labels to clarify that they are not related to each other. Tequila 512 has dismissed its case.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Tequila 512 will add “Est. 2012” to its label. It was not immediately clear what changes would be made to 818 Tequila’s design.

818 Tequila launched to huge success in the United States, with reports claiming it had sold out just four hours after becoming available to purchase.

“Kendall became an overnight tequila mogul,” one insider told celebrity news outlet Page Six. “Retailer and distributor chatter is this is the best spirits brand launch they’ve ever seen in this price range”.

This summer, 818 Tequila announced plans to launch into China through importer and distributor ChinaBev LLC.

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