honest toddler's trademark feud with honest company.

if you're a fan of either the Honest Toddler (HT) or the Honest Company (HC), you may have noticed that there's been an interruption in your regularly scheduled programming, especially in social media. but what many folks reporting on this are failing to note is that this didn't just start this week.


this isn't the first time
this didn't start on sunday. no. it began back in april, when HC (abbreviations are so much easier) decided threaten HT creator, Bunmi Laditan, with costly litigation if she didn't give up the name "Honest Toddler" to them. to be clear, while HC had registered the domain "honesttoddler.com," they hadn't applied for a trademark of that name, or even bothered to register the domain  "thehonesttoddler.com". HC doesn't have a line called "honest toddler" and have no rights to the name other than the domain "honesttoddler.com" which sat dormant, without any content, until recently. but i'll get to that in a bit.

when HC initially threatened HT in april, there was a big public backlash and HC led Laditan to believe that it was all a misunderstanding, a rogue employee speaking out of turn. Laditan forgave HC and even lended them credibility by hosting a HC diaper giveaway on her page. (side note: even in this midst of this dispute, Laditan says that she doesn't regret doing that giveaway, because the winner was a needy mom.)

We're sorry for the misunderstanding @HonestToddler (& everyone else!). We adore toddlers, honesty & look forward to future collaborations!
— The Honest Company (@Honest) April 17, 2013

before the kerfuffle in april, HC had asked HT to do an interview on their blog. so before anyone demanded anything of anyone else, HT and HC were peacefully coexisting, and HT had even given HC's brand some credibility by cross-branding with them on their blog.

peaceful co-existence seemed to be what everyone wanted, before the april threats, and again after the april threat. or so it seemed.

so who trademarked what, when?
Laditan got a book deal with publishing giant Simon & Schuster in Sept of 2012. on sept 27th, 2012, Laditan filed a trademark application with the US trademark office to trademark "Honest Toddler." the trademark process includes comparing the application to existing trademarks to ensure that it does not interfere with anyone else's trademark. Laditan's application hit no snags and she was granted preliminary approval on april 2nd. as part of the trademarking process, there is a 30 day period where the public can respond to the trademark. this is when HC filed their opposition.

it is significant to note that Laditan's trademark application was put in long before HC ever expressed itself in a hostile manner. her "Honest Toddler" brand was taking off in the entertainment industry, and she was doing the savvy thing to protect it.

to get a really nice timeline of all events, as well a a full myth/fact list, check out Bumni Laditan's personal blog.

how did we get here?
from what i can gather from Laditan's comments, and what HC has posted about "amicably reaching out," it sounds like HC has not stopped calling and emailing her, to request she withdraw her trademark application. she has declined each time. they have threatened her with costly litigation, should she continue to pursue the trademark. she has let them know that she does not care.

it seems that HC's big compromise solution was for Laditan to withdraw the trademark application (thereby forfeiting her rights to the name "Honest Toddler"), but that HC would happily license her the name for one year--for free. keep in mind--HC has no official rights to the name, and if Laditan were licensing, they could revoke it or change the terms at any point.

HC posted Laditan's response email as if it were damning. for me, it only endeared her to me more. her tone is friendly, and she even shows them her hand, letting them know that HT had been optioned by big-time tv producer Darren Starr.

and this is how we got where we are today. it seems as though HC saw that they weren't getting anywhere with Laditan, and decided to instead try to intimidate Darren Starr by sending a letter telling him that production of an Honest Toddler tv show would mean trademark infringement.

now, i'm not a trademark lawyer, but i DO know how to reason. HC doesn't own the "Honest Toddler" trademark--Laditan does. and if Laditan's "Honest Toddler" trademark didn't interfere with their current trademarks according to the US trademark office, how could it now?

the letter is below for your perusal.

almost immediately, HC finally decided to put content on honesttoddler.com, after leaving it dormant for 16 months. their content was a sleek narrative that cherry-picked details of their not-so-nice history with the Honest Toddler. it characterizes Laditan as impulsive and emotional, and impossible to work with. this tells me that they weren't really seeking amicable resolutions, they were gathering fodder in case their behavior became public again. is this HC's attempt to fight fire with fire?

a few observations
there are a few things i want to note about this situation and about the person of Bumni Laditan. the first is that Laditan is a HILARIOUS commedian. (for evidence, please see the mother's day gift guide.) i personally started following the Honest Toddler twitter before i even had a kid. as a person who loves children, her take on toddlers will leave you in stitches. but Laditan is unlike other parenting blogs that border on exploitation of their child (i have in mind a certain one that finds it funny to post pics of a toddler crying). under every tweet and post is a respect for toddlers as autonomous, rational people. their feelings and convictions are never belittled. toddlers (as impetuous and whimsical as they can be) are celebrated. this is a DAMN HARD thing to do in sattire, and Laditan NAILS it.

Watching a movie. This man just used the dark arts to make a preschooler out of wood. This can't be for kids.
— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) July 25, 2013

Jiminy, you’re a bush cricket not a court-appointed guardian. Go destroy a crop.
— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) July 25, 2013

and as a comedian, Laditan is a woman, and further, a woman of color. in the world of wildly successful comedians, she's a veritable four leaf clover. but that's not the only barrier Laditan has busted. have you looked at popular mom blogs lately? it's a white girls' club. as a woman of color, Laditan has broken down walls in BOTH the comedy and blogging communities. this woman is amazing, not just because of what she's done, but because of where she's done it.

did you know that she also wrote a book this year and had a baby--her third child?

(excuse me, i need to sit down. i'm tired just imagining this woman's life.)

and so it's because no one seems to be noticing what a ceiling cracker Laditan is that i'm aggravated. look at the press on this issue. see how often, even those articles that defend Laditan's position, accuse her of "throwing a tantrum." HC makes her out to be indecisive, wishy-washy, impulsive.

let's just review: in this fight, HC has money, the coattails of a celebrity, a PR team, a legal team. Laditan has social media. leveraging what she has is not "throwing a tantrum." exposing the nefarious practices of chris gavigan and his company in a public forum is what she has.

typical stereotypes of emotionalism and lack of reason are being lobbed at Laditan by HC, and because of lazy journalism and poor metaphors, the mainstream media is perpetuating them. it disgusts me.

i also think that the HC's constant harassing of Laditan, even after she repeatedly said no to their licensing offer, is symptomatic of how our business world mirrors rape culture. HC refuses to take no for an answer. (no means no, guys.) to submit to their demands is to relinquish rights, autonomy, branding. to give in to their persistence is to give up to them all her work and labor and the fruit thereof. being more powerful doesn't give you the right to badger people into submission. railroading smaller entities is wrong. it's doubly wrong when you think you can just do it because the person you're railroading is a "mommy blogger."

what we can do
i don't know about you, but i can't help but identify with Laditan. in my work, i manage a program whose copyright and trademark are owned by a large company that is external from my organization. we've had our ups and downs, and i can tell you from personal experience--it is no fun to have a behemoth company threaten you.

as supporters of Bumni Laditan, we can all do the following:

• boycott the Honest Company
   
• let Honest Company know that these nefarious practices and patterned attempts at striping Laditan of her professional rights and property will not stand. you can contact them in several ways, and you can do it repeatedly:
  --email them from their website
  --write on their facebook page
  --tweet at them: @honest, @jessicaalba, @christopher_gav
  --call them: 1.888.862.8818
   
• sign the petition to ask the US trademark office to block HC's opposition to Laditan's trademark of "Honest Toddler."
   
• buy Laditan's book.
  --amazon
  --barnes & noble
   
• help to build the audience and fan base of Honest Toddler
    
• get the story out. tweet about it. share it on facebook. write about it on your blog. talk to the moms and dads and kid-loving people you know about the Honest Company's deplorable behavior.
    
• ask main stream media to get on this story. tweet to your favorite news shows. if you have connections, send them a pitch on this story.