Breaking Vaping News (2/4/15, 11:34 AM): Atomized Labs, LLC (Evolve E-Liquid) of North Carolina has been shut down by NicoPure (makers of Halo and eVo juices), due to alleged trademark infringement. The company that uses the slogan "E-liquid Evolved" is claiming that merely using the word "Evolve" violates its rights. It also appears to be claiming, at least to a certain extent, that it owns the word "vapor" as a registered trademark as well. That's nuts, right?
But when the giant stomps its foot down on the little guy, what can you do? And it seems the giant is stomping its foot down an awful lot these days; in the last month alone, NicoPure has filed three similar lawsuits and is also being accused of trademark violations itself.
Atomized Labs posted the following on the Vaping Underground Forum: "We will re-launch under another brand name; for now we have shut down all production and sales." What a bummer, especially since they worked so hard establishing their brand (check out the interview at SpinFuel). Evolve's Facebook page has been completely erased and a petition at Change.org was temporarily closed then reopened.
Jay Blazio, a spokesperson for NicoPure, admits the company has spent "millions of dollars" gobbling up trademarks. Blazio claims those who are criticizing NicoPure for picking on smaller companies are merely posting "slander on the internet." He goes on to say: "Contrary to the rumors being passed around, Nicopure Labs
does not own a trademark for the individual term 'Vapor' [but] we do have other terms that include
the word 'Vapor', but not that term by itself." Um, okay . . . Other terms NicoPure has trademarked include "Turkish Tobacco" and "Cafe Mocha".
Blazio has accused Evolve of "escalating the situation" by informing its customers that it was shut down due to a lawsuit. He says "I really wish they would have contacted us directly to
resolve this . . ." Keep in mind, this is coming from a company that didn't even have the decency to issue a cease and desist letter before filing its lawsuit against Evolve.
Packaging doesn't look similar.
Logos are completely different.
One is called Evolve and the other eVo.
Where's the trademark infringement?
******
Statement from Atomized Labs
We would like to apologize for the abrupt nature in which we reacted to the trademark infringement lawsuit that was filed against us. Since this was the first we had heard of this issue and due to the severity of the claims, we had a knee-jerk reaction to remove our online store and other advertising materials from the marketplace until we could consult with legal counsel.
Now that we’ve had a chance to weigh the options, we have taken steps to communicate with NicoPure Labs. We hope to resolve this issue with grace; even though we strongly feel that our brands do not meet the criteria for likelihood of confusion in the marketplace. No matter what the outcome; we can guarantee that there was never any intent to capitalize on the property of others.
Update: Evolve has changed it's name to INFRINGEMENT
