Didn’t You Read The Small Print?

The British perfumer Jo Malone has said she is “surprised and very sad” after being sued for more than £200,000 in damages for using her name on fragrances she created for the fashion chain Zara. It emerged last month that New York-based multinational Estée Lauder Companies, which owns brands M.A.C, Bobbi Brown, Estée Lauder and Jo Malone London, was taking legal action, claiming the fragrance entrepreneur infringed trademarks.

Malone sold her perfume brand to the US cosmetics group in 1999 in a deal under which she was blocked from using her name for particular commercial reasons, including the marketing of fragrance.

And it appears she didn’t fully understand what she was signing away…

She stepped down as creative director of the Jo Malone brand in 2006 and has since said she regretted selling the rights to her name, calling it the “biggest mistake of my life”.

She certainly realises now, when it’s too late! 

After a non-compete clause ended in 2011, Malone set up the Jo Loves brand. In 2019, the perfume brand launched a collaboration with Zara that included eight scents, which sell for £35.99. The packaging made clear the products were created by Malone and the latest version includes the words: “A creation by Jo Malone CBE, founder of Jo Loves.” Estée Lauder took issue with this wording, and high court documents show the company and Jo Malone Ltd expect to recover more than £200,000 in damages.

It’s hard to see how they could have done any different…but Malone still doesn’t fully understand , or more likely, thinks she won’t be called on her objections.

“My name is Jo Malone. I am the person, the fragrance creator, the entrepreneur, the cancer survivor, the person,” she said. “I never expected to receive a high court claim with my name on it.”

Then you shouldn’t have tried to end-run around the contact’s restrictions! 

She said when Zara approached her seven years ago about working together, “they approached me, they didn’t approach a company, they didn’t approach a brand, they didn’t approach a logo. They approached me, Jo Malone, the person, and asked whether I would start working with them and create beautiful fragrances that everyone could wear in the world.” She added: “I sold a company, I did not sell myself.”

You sold the name, the trademark. Thats the valuable thing. 

“We have gone above and beyond and above and beyond again to make sure everyone understands this has nothing to do with Jo Malone London, the company. This is very much Jo Malone. By using Ms Jo Malone CBE, Jo Malone creative director of Jo Loves, we’ve literally done as much as we possibly can … We’ve trained the staff, everything. 

“Where do I go from here? Who can I be? I can’t stop being a person. Nobody can stop being the character and the person that you are.”

Nobody's asking you to stop being a person, are they? 

Seems Some Are Allergic To Plain Speaking Too...

The owner of a burger restaurant who tells his staff to turn away customers with food allergies has defended his policy as 'extremely fair'. Jeff Taylor, who owns Bun X, which operates out of two pubs in Norwich, received a wave of criticism and a handful of one-star reviews after refusing to serve customers with food allergies, even if they were willing to take the risk. He said that Bun X is unable to cater for anyone with a gluten, nut, soya or sesame allergy and asks customers to inform staff about allergies in advance of their booking.

And predictably there’s OUTRAGE! at such plain speaking from the people who demand that their every whim are catered for.

However, Mr Taylor has addressed the bad reviews, telling BBC Radio Norfolk that 'we are not being pedantic, we are being extremely fair'.

Due to the size of the kitchen, he said the business had to make 'tricky decisions' after 'due diligence concluded that there is no safe way to 100% eradicate cross contamination'.

So as any business has the right to (or should have) he decided he wouldn’t take that risk. And so wouldn’t serve these people.

One person wrote: 'If you have a food allergy and you want to eat there, don't bother, they won't serve you. Was felt like I had a disease of something.'

Another person with a nut allergy said they were 'flat out refused service' despite accepting the risk, and that business's stance is 'not an acceptable one'.

They seem eager to paint their tantrum as some sort of ‘civil rights’ issue of discrimination as they’ve undoubtedly learned that that makes people give in. But Mr Taylor is made of sterner stuff: 

In response to the Google review about the family that was asked to leave because of a nut allergy, Mr Taylor replied:'However, you are so concerned that your daughter is allergic to nuts that YOU mention it to us! So your review should read, 'Gutted I chanced it and dragged my family out for dinner. Luckily for us the compassionate pros at Bun X are on the ball and protected my daughter!''

Perfect! There is no right to a burger, you aren’t Rosa Parkes, go home and eat there, where you can guarantee what you are putting in your mouth.