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Talk about a bad case of brain freeze.
Rebel Creamery has filed for bankruptcy, less than a month after a judge ordered it to pay nearly $24 million to rival Van Leeuwen Ice Cream for copying its packaging, according to the New York Times.
The two brands both sell pastel-colored pints with script lettering and similarly styled flavor names: mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, pistachio. Van Leeuwen sued in 2021, arguing Rebel’s containers were confusingly close to its own. Judge Eric Komitee agreed, ruling that Rebel’s founders acted in “bad faith.” He pointed to two red flags: a Wegmans buyer told Rebel’s founder that the pints looked the same back in 2018 and a 2024 complaint from a shopper whose husband “purchased Rebel by accident” while shopping for Van Leeuwen. “The likelihood of all these design features converging at random is infinitesimal,” Komitee wrote.
In its bankruptcy filing, Rebel said its roughly $14 million in assets couldn’t cover the judgment. The company said it’s appealing and that its products will remain widely available.
Van Leeuwen wasn’t sympathetic. “Rebel had every opportunity, during five years of litigation, to cease using the infringing packaging,” a company representative said, accusing Rebel of choosing to keep “profiting from its infringement” instead.
Talk about a bad case of brain freeze.
Rebel Creamery has filed for bankruptcy, less than a month after a judge ordered it to pay nearly $24 million to rival Van Leeuwen Ice Cream for copying its packaging, according to the New York Times.
The two brands both sell pastel-colored pints with script lettering and similarly styled flavor names: mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, pistachio. Van Leeuwen sued in 2021, arguing Rebel’s containers were confusingly close to its own. Judge Eric Komitee agreed, ruling that Rebel’s founders acted in “bad faith.” He pointed to two red flags: a Wegmans buyer told Rebel’s founder that the pints looked the same back in 2018 and a 2024 complaint from a shopper whose husband “purchased Rebel by accident” while shopping for Van Leeuwen. “The likelihood of all these design features converging at random is infinitesimal,” Komitee wrote.
In its bankruptcy filing, Rebel said its roughly $14 million in assets couldn’t cover the judgment. The company said it’s appealing and that its products will remain widely available.
Van Leeuwen wasn’t sympathetic. “Rebel had every opportunity, during five years of litigation, to cease using the infringing packaging,” a company representative said, accusing Rebel of choosing to keep “profiting from its infringement” instead.