New York ice cream company<\/a>\u2018s packaging.\u00a0<\/p>\nVan Leeuwen sued Rebel in 2021, arguing that the Utah company had copied its packaging.<\/p>\n
Van Leeuwen\u2019s design features pastel-colored, monochrome pints with matching lids, black script lettering and a minimalist look.<\/p>\n
Komitee ordered Rebel to stop selling the infringing packaging and redesign its pints.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence at trial left no doubt that Rebel infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen\u2019s trade dress and did so intentionally,\u201d Komitee wrote, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n
The Utah-based ice cream maker was found to have intentionally copied Van Leeuwen\u2019s pastel-colored packaging. Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, Rebel will be enjoined from selling the infringing products and required to redesign its packaging to avoid any further infringement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge found that Rebel\u2019s packaging was similar enough to cause actual confusion among customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRebel will also be required to disgorge its profits from selling infringing pints,\u201d Komitee wrote.<\/p>\n
Rebel appealed the judgement before filing for bankruptcy and said its founders had not seen Van Leeuwen\u2019s packaging. rebelcreamery.com<\/p>\n
\u201cVan Leeuwen is entitled to $23.785 million of Rebel\u2019s profits from selling infringing ice cream pints,\u201d the judge added.<\/p>\n
Rebel denied the allegations and said its founders had not seen Van Leeuwen\u2019s packaging when they developed their own design.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company was founded in 2017, while Van Leeuwen \u2014 founded in 2008 \u2014 had introduced its current packaging in 2016.<\/p>\n
Van Leeuwen, founded in New York City in 2008, now has roughly 100 scoop shops across the US. Tamara Beckwith\/New York Post<\/p>\n
Rebel\u2019s pints began appearing in grocery stores in 2018 and were discovered by a Van Leeuwen employee later that year or in early 2019, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
During the case, Komitee rejected Rebel\u2019s explanation for how its packaging was developed.<\/p>\n
The judge said Rebel\u2019s testimony about the design process was fabricated and found that the similarity between the brands was unlikely to have happened by chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rebel filed an appeal Aug. 12 challenging the $23.8 million judgment, two days before its bankruptcy filing.<\/p>\n
Van Leeuwen was founded in New York City in 2008 by brothers Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O\u2019Neill, who started the company with a yellow ice cream truck before opening their first shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 2010.<\/p>\n
The company has grown from its New York roots into a national chain, with roughly 100 scoop shops across the US as of 2026.<\/p>\n
Both Rebel and Van Leeuwen were among the ice cream brands posting some of the strongest year-over-year growth in 2025<\/a>, according to Instacart data reported last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ice cream maker Rebel Creamery has filed for bankruptcy after losing a packaging battle with rival Van Leeuwen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[30360,28,19376,3130,1999,3324],"class_list":["post-815519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bankruptcy","tag-business","tag-ice-cream","tag-lawsuits","tag-new-york-city","tag-utah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}