The Outcome of the Hershey’s Candy Company Lawsuit Against Tincturebelle Edibles
On Oct. 16, Hershey’s candy company settled their suit against
Denver-based cannabis edibles company, TinctureBelle, dropping charges as long
as the company agreed to cease and desist and destroy
n Oct. 16, Hershey’s candy company settled their suit against
Denver-based cannabis edibles company, TinctureBelle, dropping charges as long
as the company agreed to cease and desist and destroy all candy made with the
offending and derivative logos. TinctureBelle agreed to these conditions and
the law suit appears to now be a thing of the past.
The original suit was lobbied against the company because of
their use of parody titles and labeling like “HashHeath,” “Reefer Cup,” “Dabby
Patty,” and “Ganja Joy.” TinctureBelle claimed that they had already
discontinued the candy long before Hershey’s got wind of it and therefore it
should no longer be an issue, but Hershey’s leveled the suit anyway, to make
sure that the group in question as well as other edibles companies would be
scared off from these parodies forever.
The settlement goes further by stating that the company
cannot use “reefer” in the name of any candies that contain peanut butter or
substitute, in case of confusion with “Reese’s,” and that they refrain from
making any candy with brown, yellow, or orange colored wrapping in order to
avoid confusion. TinctureBelle agreed to these terms, but declined to comment
on the allegations, instead opting to satisfy the requirements laid out by
Hershey’s. Neither company could be reached for comment at the time of the
decision going public.
While copyright laws should be respected, this suit seems to
go a little overboard with their restrictions on candy wrapper color, and it
seems a bit unfair in light of how much money Hershey’s has in comparison to a
small mom-and-pop company from Colorado. The argument that this branding could
cause confusion for children who would eat the candy also seems a little
irrelevant here, as all candy would inevitably be tempting to kids, and
therefore anything containing cannabis should be kept far out of their reach. Still,
there doesn’t seem to be any serious damage to the company from this suit, and
TinctureBelle will continue making edible products.
