Rebel Creamery ordered to pay $23.8 million for trade-dress infringement and files Chapter 11

A U.S. district judge in Brooklyn ruled that Rebel Creamery willfully infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen’s trade dress, ordering the company to pay $23.785 million and to redesign its pint cartons. The decision, issued on July 16, found that Rebel’s packaging— a single-color cardboard pint with pastel shades, a matching lid, and black script lettering—was substantially similar to Van Leeuwen’s distinctive design, creating a likelihood of consumer confusion. Evidence showed store employees had mixed the two brands, and the judge noted the absence of any design records from Rebel.

Van Leeuwen had commissioned the design firm Pentagram in 2016 to develop its grocery-store packaging, retaining all design files and concepts. Rebel’s founders, Austin and Courtney Archibald, created their packaging themselves in late 2017 and early 2018 using Adobe Illustrator, without formal graphic-design training and without preserving intermediate versions. Both testified they had not seen Van Leeuwen’s product before the design work, though the judge was unconvinced.

The dispute originated when Van Leeuwen’s founders discovered Rebel’s similar cartons on social media in late 2018 or early 2019 and filed suit in 2021. Van Leeuwen initially sought $36.4 million; the judge reduced the award by roughly one-third, citing Rebel’s own sales data that indicated part of the demand was driven by the product’s keto positioning rather than the packaging.

Rebel, which had expanded rapidly to major U.S. retailers within 18 months of its 2018 launch, appealed the judgment and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two days later in Utah. Its bankruptcy filing lists assets of about $13.78 million against liabilities of $23.85 million, including the disputed judgment. Chapter 11 will halt creditor actions while the company seeks to reorganize and, unless the appeal overturns the ruling, will be required to adopt a new packaging design that gives shoppers a “substantially different commercial impression.”