After two years, Kristi Stanley’s baby products business is starting to take off, but she now must defend it against an international corporation demanding she change her business’s name.
The Gerber baby food company says her business’s name “Giggles and Grins” infringes on Gerber’s trademark for a product line called “Grins and Giggles.”
“I never imagined I would be in a legal battle with a billion-dollar company like Gerber,” said Stanley, who makes cloth products, such as bibs, burp cloths and blankets in her Chamberlain Road home.
But that is exactly what is happening. Last week Peter Sloan, a New York attorney representing Gerber, called Stanley and told her that Gerber has a bathtime and skincare product line called Grins and Giggles, which was trademarked earlier this month. The attorney notified her that her company’s name would have to change because the similar names could cause consumer confusion.
Gerber, which is owned by Novartis, a Switzerland-based company that in 2004 had sales totaling $28.2 billion, told her to eliminate her Web site www.giggles-and-grins.com and also to stop using the company name within 30 days.
“Sewn products for babies are closely related to bathtime and skincare products for babies,” a letter to Stanley from Sloan reads. “Both are directed to the target audience. As a result any continued use of the name and mark Giggles and Grins for products for babies infringes the trademark rights owned by Gerber under federal and state law.”
Gerber representatives had little to say about the issue. In a preprared statement to the Current, the company only added, “We are aware of this matter and can confirm we are working to resolve this situation quickly and amicably.”
Stanley has been using the name since March 2004 and was told by Sloan that Gerber began using their name in February 2004 and had a pending trademark on the name as early as June 2003.
At this point anyway Stanley has no intention to stop using the name, saying she will fight to keep it. She already has contacted an attorney to learn about her options.
“I feel I’m just doing my job to provide for my son and they are infringing on my right to do that,” she said.
Stanley said her name and the one used by Gerber are opposite of each other. In addition, the product lines are very different. One is for cloth products while the other is for bathtime products.
“I’m not a threat,” she said. “I don’t make any bathtime products.”
Stanley, with the help of her friend Lori Crowly, started Giggles and Grins shortly after her son Logan was born to help supplement the income she earned while working seasonally at the Pleasant Hill Golf Course.
“Being a mom, I realized very quickly that the experience of having a child was a bit more expensive that I thought,” she said.
She said the Giggles and Grins name was inspired by her son’s personality. She frequently brings him with her when she sells her products to gift shops throughout Maine.
Today she hand-produces more than 40 products for infants and children. Her biggest sellers are changing mats called “Roll and Go.” Each product is stamped with the company’s name along with “Mom Made in Maine.”
“It’s been great,” she said. “It has been a lot of fun. It’s been a lot of hard work and it’s starting to pay off,” she said.
Like any small business owner Stanley has invested countless hours into promoting the business and helping create her products. She also has done the marketing for the business, including a Web site.
To change her name now, when interest in her products is finally starting to take off, would hurt her business. She said the name change would cause confusion with buyers and make her business seem unstable, which is not.
“I don’t want it to appear as though I have done anything wrong,” she said.
In addition, the change would have some financial consequences. Stanley would have to replace all of the pre-purchased tags for her products. She also would lose money for her Web site, which she contracted someone to produce.
“It’s not right for a big company to be bullying a stay-at-home mom trying to do her job,” she said.
Kristi StanleySend questions/comments to the editors.
