Connie Ferguson is caught up in a case of “B**ch stole my look” with cosmetic giant Nivea and her business partner Joseph Nchabeleng.
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently ruled in favour of Nivea owners, Beiersdorf Group.
Here’s the 411 on their case, Connie’s company Koni International Brands, landed itself in hot water in 2017 after it was blamed for stealing beauty care giant Niveas’s packaging on their collection of men’s body care product Connie.
Connie’s company was then demanded to remove their products and pay for legal fees. After an ongoing legal battle between the two company’s Judge, Denise Fisher of the Johannesburg High Court ruled in favor of Beiersdorf in 2018.
“Given the similarities between the appellant’s and respondent’s products, the inference is inescapable that the appellant’s logo is an appropriation of the Nivea Men wave-label indicia on the same kind of product, so as to connect it to a known and established brand,” reads the judgment.
“This is buttressed by the fact that the appellant’s logo on its Connie Men shower gel is strikingly different from its logo used on the Connie Wome brand, which bears a picture of Ms. Constance Ferguson. Further, and unlike the Connie Women brand, there is nothing on the Connie Men range that indicates any association with Ms Constance Ferguson.”
