Blake Lively beauty brand faces trademark lawsuit after Family Hive LLC, the company behind her haircare line Blake Brown, initiated legal action against Utah business owner Kimberlie Hamner for her Beauty by Blake trademark. The lawsuit comes at a turbulent time as Lively’s brand experiences a dramatic sales decline and mounting legal challenges in New York and beyond.
Family Hive Escalates Trademark Dispute Over Brand Name and Logo
Blake Lively launched her Blake Brown haircare line through Family Hive, a Delaware-registered company, with three pending trademarks covering its name, a unique beehive-shaped logo, and a combined mark. The products entered the market at Target earlier this summer, but all trademark filings remain under review after being submitted in 2023. The trademark tension intensified when Kimberlie Hamner, a Utah-based entrepreneur, submitted her Beauty by Blake trademark in September 2024 to promote cosmetic oils and serums.
Hamner’s trademark, published in April in the Trademark Official Gazette, drew swift opposition from Family Hive, who formally filed on June 5. Family Hive’s attorney, Leo M. Loughlin, asserts that the mark closely resembles Lively’s brand and could mislead buyers. Loughlin contends Hamner’s products give an impression of affiliation or endorsement by Family Hive, though she is not connected to the company in any way. The legal filing argues this similarity presents a risk of market confusion and threatens the strength of the Blake Brown brand.
New Trademark Case Follows Recent Blake Brown Product Launch
The legal dispute coincides with Blake Lively’s latest expansion of the Blake Brown line. Days before news broke of the trademark suit, the former Gossip Girl star revealed three new hair and body mists, citing direct responses to consumer feedback.
“This was a response to our community going, ‘Please make fragrance,’”
—Blake Lively, Actress and Entrepreneur.
“They were like, ‘I want to be able to refresh after the gym or throughout the day.’”
—Blake Lively, Actress and Entrepreneur.
Lively further admitted her love for product scents exceeds typical use:
“You’re probably not supposed to do that, but I just love the smell,”
—Blake Lively, Actress and Entrepreneur. Emphasizing the line’s retro-inspired appeal, she described her vision for aesthetic packaging:
“I wanted [the bottles] to look like a retro perfume bottle… an elegance to them and sort of a glamour, but also be easy to throw in your bag,”
—Blake Lively, Actress and Entrepreneur.
Even as Blake Brown’s catalog grows with this product drop, the expanding range faces a shadow from the ongoing dispute with Hamner over the use of the Blake name in beauty-related goods. The overlap may intensify scrutiny of the brand’s future as it battles for distinction in a crowded market.
Sales Plummet and Public Support Wanes
The timing of the trademark battle exacerbates an already difficult stretch for Blake Lively’s haircare venture. Puck recently reported that Blake Brown’s sales figures have nosedived—dropping by up to 78%—since Lively brought a sexual harassment lawsuit against co-star Justin Baldoni in December 2024. Sources suggest the brand’s public image has taken a pronounced hit, especially as enthusiasm from Taylor Swift’s dedicated fans has faded over recent months.
Once benefiting from this influential community’s support, Lively now faces reduced consumer favorability and an economic outlook far from the brand’s initial promise. Forecasts for 2025 predict the business will generate under $15 million in sales, a sharp decline from the earlier valuation that neared $100 million. Speculation over the fallout continues to mount, adding pressure on the haircare company as it contends with competitive and reputational threats.
Parallel Legal Setbacks With ‘It Ends With Us’ Co-Star
The lawsuit with Hamner is one of several legal battles converging on Lively’s professional life. She also faces a high-profile conflict with Justin Baldoni, her It Ends With Us co-star. Lively filed suit against Baldoni in December 2024, claiming sexual harassment, troubling on-set behaviors, and retaliation through an alleged smear campaign. The allegations caused ripples within Hollywood, prompting Baldoni to promptly deny them and respond in January 2025 with a counter-claim. His suit names Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their public relations team, asserting defamation and extortion.
The resulting legal exchanges have heightened scrutiny of both actors, while casting a cloud over their current and future projects. For Lively, these legal disputes now overlap with the pressures facing her business pursuits, adding layers of complexity to her corporate and entertainment endeavors.
Judge Dismisses Lively’s ‘Emotional Distress’ Claim
Further damaging to Lively’s legal efforts, a New York judge recently dismissed her attempt to drop the emotional distress claim against Baldoni, ruling it invalid and effectively ending that aspect of her case. Baldoni’s attorneys previously pressed for release of Lively’s medical records to contest her claim, generating further contention in the legal process. The development leaves Lively’s case on weaker ground while her beauty brand remains under the strain of ongoing intellectual property disputes.
As Blake Brown’s trademark conflict escalates, and with key sales figures plummeting, Blake Lively’s growing beauty enterprise faces an uncertain future. Her challenges with co-star Justin Baldoni and persistent negative attention in Hollywood add to the difficulties, leaving both the path ahead for the haircare line and Lively’s broader public profile increasingly fraught. Industry analysts and insiders will be monitoring whether Blake Brown can recover from these compounded setbacks or if trademark confusion and public controversy will permanently hamper its growth.
