A young entrepreneur from Ottawa Canada has been pressured to change the name of her company called “SPYCE GIRLZ” which sells a range of food seasonings, following the threat of legal action by pop group the Spice Girls.
Lily Bond, the owner and founder of SPYCE GIRLZ began selling her seasonings in 2017 when she was 13 at local farmers markets with her mother and customers often referring to them as the “Spice Girls”. Bond them changed the “I” to a “Y” and the “S” to a “Z” to differentiate herself from the band. Her company has since grown enormously, reportedly being carried by 150 grocery stores in Ontario. In January 2022, Bond applied for the trade mark “Spyce Girlz Seasonings” in Canada and was subsequently granted protection for the term in October 2023.
Representatives of the Spice Girls group sent a letter to Miss Bond in 2024, alleging trade mark infringement on the basis that the company name is likely to confuse Canadian consumers into mistakenly believing that there is an association between her goods and the Spice Girls. They asked that she withdraw her trade mark and destroy all goods and packaging containing the trade mark.
The young entrepreneur noticed that the specification for the Spice Girls’ trade mark registration covered a very wide range of goods but did not contain ‘seasonings’. In retaliation she filed Section 45 proceedings in Canada which requires the trade mark owner to demonstrate use of the trade mark in connection to the goods and services for which it is registered within the last three years or face having their mark cancelled. This is similar to revocation proceedings in the UK based on section 46 of the Trade Marks Act 1994. However, after representing herself in back and forth correspondence with the pop group’s legal representatives for a year, she has made the decision to give up the name, rebrand and to invest her time into growing her business instead.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
