E. Remy Martin & Co filed a lawsuit against rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent and his Sire Spirits in Manhattan in federal court on Friday, Aug 13, alleging its Branson cognac infringes Remy Martin’s trade-dress and design-patent rights in its jewel-shaped glass cognac bottle design.
Remy Martin called Sire’s similarly shaped bottle a “blatant attempt” to trade off of the goodwill associated with its popular extra old (XO) cognac. French distiller Remy Martin said its XO cognac is the second-best-selling XO cognac in the U.S., behind Hennessy’s. Its “Centaure de Diamant” cognac bottle has a distinctive “circular array of raised flat and angled quadrilateral facets” around a wheel-like body that converge at a “centrally located circular surface,” according to the complaint obtained by Reuters.
The complaint said Jackson and Sire applied for a design patent and federal trademark in 2019 and 2020, respectively, covering a similar bottle for their Branson cognac. Sire launched the Branson brand in 2018, and the complaint said it has been using the infringing bottle to sell its own XO cognac since at least the beginning of 2020.
Sire’s design is “nearly indistinguishable” from Remy Martin’s bottle, the complaint said, calling it a “near exact reproduction.” Remy Martin said consumers and media have also commented on the bottles’ “striking” similarity. 50 Cent addressed the issue on Instagram and stated that Remy Martin was running scared and threatened by his arrival in the spirit space.
“👀They are afraid of me already😆Branson Cognac is the new wave. REMY is #2 Behind Henny and worried about Branson Smh i’m just getting started. #bransoncognac #lecheminduroi,” he posted.
Remy Martin’s Cointreau subsidiary also sued the Canadian maker of the CBD drink “Quatreau” for infringing trademarks covering the orange liqueur in the same Manhattan court last month.
