Elf Bar has been sued for trademark infringement and will change its name in the United States. The brand will become EBDESIGN in the U.S., although the company may restore the Elf Bar name if the trademark dispute is decided in its favor.
* The Elf Bar name will continue to be used in the UK and other markets worldwide.
Why?
In November last year, VPR requested that Shenzhen iMiracle be banned from continuing to use the Elf Bar logo, arguing that the alleged infringement would impact future sales.
VPR Brands applied for a trademark for the name ELF in 2017. The trademark was successfully registered in 2018.
Currently, VPR Brands does not seem to have any nicotine vaping products available for purchase under the brand names Elf or Elf Bar. But, VPR recently launched a website showing “ELF”-branded nicotine vaping devices that look very similar to iMiracle’s ELFBARs—right down to the model number. VPR says they are “coming soon.”
Judge Cannon from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued an Order granting VPR’s motion for a preliminary injunction in the ongoing trademark infringement dispute over the "Elf" name.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR THE BC5000?
As a result, Shenzhen iMiracle and all their affiliates (Master Distributors, Resellers, and Retailers) can no longer advertise, market, or sell the BC5000 under its old pointy-eared, tiny-person-related brand name.
It will take a couple of weeks for the company formerly known as Elf Bar (now EBDesign) to pump out new BC5000 vapes with the new EBDesign name, update the literature and boxes and ship them to the US. The newly packaged BC5000 and BC5000 ULTRA e-cigarettes will use the "EBDESIGN" name in the future to comply with the judge's order.
By the way, retailers, and distributors not named in the lawsuit are not in legal jeopardy if they continue to sell existing ELFBAR stock—unless they receive cease-and-desist letters from VPR.
iMiracle is challenging the preliminary injunction and has requested Judge Cannon to halt the injunction while the appeal is pending. Additionally, one of the company's distributors in the U.S. has submitted a petition to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office appeal board seeking to nullify VPR's trademark.
