Mars Wrigley sues online stores for selling Medicated Skittles, Starburst Gummies

Mars’ Wrigley unit, owner of the Skittles, Starburst and Life Savers brands, sued the owners of several online shops to block them from selling THC-infused products that infringe trademarks for the candy maker’s iconic products. Wrigley cited the sale of “Medicated Skittles,” “Starburst Gummies” and “Life Savers Medicated Gummies” as examples of what it said were trademark infringement and dilution, and unfair competition. The candies “pose a great danger to the public as anyone, children and adults alike, could easily mistake the infringing cannabis-infused products for Wrigley’s famous and beloved candies and inadvertently ingest” the THC in them, according to a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Riverside, California. The packaged products, which are infused with cannabis’s main psychoactive ingredient, “nearly-identically resemble” the Wrigley candies, the suit claims. The complaint names as defendants the California-based owners of websites called 2020ediblez.com, ie420supply.com and oc420collection.com, among others. Several of the defendants didn’t return calls and emails seeking comment. Mars, which also filed suit in Canada, seeks damages of $2 million per counterfeit mark for each type of candy sold, and it wants all profits from the infringing sales and the destruction of all infringing products. Wrigley said it has previously sued the makers and sellers of “‘candy-flavored’ e-liquid products for e-cigarettes when those products presented a risk of harm to children and the public at large.” The case is Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. v. Conde, 5:21-cv-777, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Eastern Division -- Riverside). —Bloomberg News

Mars Wrigley sues online stores for selling Medicated Skittles, Starburst Gummies

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