Lawsuit Against Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila Comes to a Close; ‘Blatant Rip-Off’ Accusations Dismissed

A trademark lawsuit filed by Tequila 512 against 818 Tequila has finally come to a close. A branding change has been agreed upon. Photo: Instagram/kendalljenner

A trademark lawsuit filed by Tequila 512 against Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has finally come to a close. Under the terms of the agreement, both brands have agreed to keep their names albeit with some minor changes.

The suit was first filed back in February 2022 after Tequila 512 alleged that Jenner’s tequila “simply and blatantly” ripped off its logo and branding.

Tequila 512 Blanco side by side with 818 Tequila Blanco

At the time, Tequila 512 CEO Nick Matzorkis said that Jenner “cannot get away with it,” further claiming that his brand was willing to “go to mat” for “months or years” if necessary.

Now, it seems that those months are over.

Under the terms of the settlement, both companies will be able to keep their area code-inspired brand names (818 Tequila after Jenner’s residence in Southern California and Tequila 512 after the companies’ home base in Houston, Texas).

In an ironic twist given that they initiated the lawsuit, Tequila 512 has agreed to slightly modify their branding. Tequila 512 will add “Est. 2012” to its bottle labeling.

Matzorkis told TMZ that “Tequila 512’s lawsuit against 818 Tequila has been resolved. The parties have agreed that they will each have the right to use their existing names and they will both make changes to their labels to clarify that they are not related to each other. Tequila 512 has dismissed its case.”

Interestingly, Tequila 512 had themselves been subject to a similar property-trademark lawsuit back in 2020 filed against them by fellow Austin-based distiller 512 Bourbon.

Tequila 512 won the lawsuit, as 512 Bourbon wasn’t able to prove that sufficient trademark infringement had occurred.

Sometimes, it seems that history repeats itself.

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