Sherwin-Williams sues Wooster Brush
Suit alleges Wooster mimics Sherwin-Williams' package designs.
Sherwin-Williams Co. has sued Wooster Brush Co., alleging the Wooster company introduced paint brush packaging this year that closely imitates and infringes on Sherwin-Williams' trade dress, or packaging, of a line of products.
Filed Dec. 14 in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, the lawsuit claims Wooster Brush is imitating both the way Sherwin-Williams packages individual brushes sold under the Purdy mark, as well as the color coding it uses across the line of brushes.
The way Sherwin-Williams paints it, Wooster Brush copied its packaging in a way that risks confusing consumers into believing its paint brushes are connected with those that Sherwin-Williams sells.
According to the lawsuit, since at least as early as 2010, Sherwin-Williams has used a brush keeper packaging for Purdy-branded paint brushes that entails, among other things, a golden yellow background, a small, partial image of the American flag at the top center of the brush keeper and a thick horizontal band of color that denotes the particular type of brush (i.e., brown for nylon/polyester blended bristle brush, purple for ox-hair bristle brush and so on).
Sherwin-Williams in the suit alleges that in 2012, Wooster Brush changed the packaging trade dress it uses for its Wooster Pro brushes sold at Home Depot to closely imitate Sherwin-Williams' packaging.
Wooster Brush's infringing packaging includes a golden yellow background, a small, partial image of the American flag located at the top center of the brush keeper and a thick horizontal band of color, the company alleges. And, Sherwin-Williams' lawsuit says, the color code that Wooster Brush uses is identical to its own.
Sherwin-Williams also alleges that packaging of Wooster Brush's roller covers is similar to that employed by Sherwin-Williams and that Wooster Brush uses a slogan that's similar to one that Sherwin-Williams used through its predecessor in connection with its paint brushes between 1998 and 2006.
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