Goop sued for copyright infringement by Good Clean Love

Gwenyth Paltrow’s Goop brand is being sued for copyright infringement among other complaints, according to court documents obtained by Business Insider.

The wellness company is facing a lawsuit related to its sexual health products. On 28 March, Good Clean Love, an “all-natural, intimate hygiene, vaginal wellness and premium intimacy product” line, filed a lawsuit against Goop for trademark infringement. Additionally, Good Clean Love accused Goop of unfair competition and false advertising.

Per Business Insider’s report, Good Clean Love filed its lawsuit, intending “to prevent the calamitous situation where a junior trademark user, with substantial economic power, saturates the marketplace with a trademark that threatens to overtake a smaller senior user’s mark and usurp the senior user’s reputation and goodwill”.

In its filing, Good Clean Love asserts that Goop had applied to register the trademark “Good. Clean. Goop” in 2023, covering skincare, nutritional supplements, and body care products. According to the lawsuit, Goop used the trademark to cover sexual wellness products too. Good Clean Love claimed that sexual wellness products are “the core” of its business and it can therefore not compete with “Goop’s market saturation”.

“The confusion and reverse confusion created by Goop’s use of GOOD. CLEAN. GOOP threatens to foreclose Good Clean Love from expanding into product lines related to its sexual health and wellness products,” the company stated in the court documents. “Good Clean Love’s hard-earned goodwill is at risk of falling into the hands of Goop, the junior user.”

Good Clean Love described its business as a “smaller senior business,” which was founded in 2003. In comparison, Goop identified to have grown into a “cultural phenomenon” shortly after it was founded in 2008.

Both Good Clean Love and Goop sell their products through Amazon and Target. Good Clean Love claimed this fact leads to the direct colliding of its products - and that being mistaken as part of the Goop brand is “harmful” because Goop has previously been involved in lawsuits for “unfounded health claims about its products”.

“Without prompt assistance from this Court, Goop’s adoption of the mark GOOD. CLEAN. GOOP threatens to overwhelm the GOOD CLEAN LOVE trademark and undermine Good Clean Love’s two decades of investment in its goodwill and reputation,” the court documents state.

“These associations are particularly harmful to Good Clean Love, which has built its reputation and brand on safe, organic, scientific, and exhaustively researched sexual wellness products,” the lawsuit continues.

Speaking to The Independent, a spokesperson for Goop said the complaint against the company was “meritless”.

“Goop does not typically comment on pending litigation, but given the allegations, we’d like it to be clear that we believe this complaint is meritless. The market is saturated with “good clean [fill in the blank]” named brands,” the company spokesperson said.

The individual added: “Goop’s ‘good.clean.goop’ is an accessible skincare, body care and wellness line sold at Target and Amazon, and the goop brand is well-known for these products. Thus, we trust consumers to distinguish Goop from the plethora of other ‘good clean’ products in the marketplace. We stand behind our products as clean and are proud to have been a pioneer in the clean beauty movement.”

The Independent has contacted Good Clean Love for a comment.