Quick! What is the difference between Squishmallows and Skoosherz?
Time’s up. Don’t fret if you couldn’t come up with an answer. The companies behind the colorful plush toys are in a court battle this week over what actually makes the toys distinct from each other.
Kelly Toys, which said it released the Squishmallows plush toys in 2016, filed a lawsuit on Monday against Build-A-Bear over its Skoosherz line, which launched last month in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. Build-A-Bear filed its own lawsuit against Kelly Toys.
Instead of “creating its own unique concepts and product lines,” read the complaint filed by Kelly Toys in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Build-A-Bear built a similar product when, the complaint added, it “decided that it would be easier to simply copy, imitate, and profit off the popularity and good will of Squishmallows.”
Kelly Toys argues in its lawsuit that Build-A-Bear imitated the Squishmallows plush toys “in the hopes of confusing consumers into buying its products instead of Squishmallows.”
In a complaint against Kelly Toys in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Build-A-Bear argued on Monday that its line did not infringe upon any trademark.
The parent company of Squishmallows says the toys are similar
Kelly Toys argued that the Build-A-Bear line bears many similarities to Squishmallows toys, including “shaped fanciful renditions of animals/characters; simplified Asian style Kawaii faces; embroidered facial features; distinctive and nonmonochrome coloring; and velvety velour-like textured exterior.”
