Glow Industries, Inc. was established in 1999 with the intention of selling a fragrant design named “Glow”, consisting of bath and body products.  Terri Williamson and Jennifer Levy opened their dream boutique in Los Angeles, on the reputably trendy West Third Street.  Very quickly, the company had a higher than anticipated success, and had to expand to other selling options such as internet sales and other retail stores.  The business was thriving, until a big name celebrity marketed a product with a similar name.  Glow Industries could not compete with Jennifer Lopez’s money and notoriety.  In 2002, Glow Industries filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Glow Industries Inc. took every step necessary to protect their intellectual properties.  In 1999, Glow Inc. had registered their trademark with the Patent and Trademark office.  There was an excessive lag time however, because the Patent Attorney’s had felt there was could be a conflict with three other Patents.  In November 2002, there were finally approved to proceed for final processing.  This could not have come at a more opportune time; they received the go ahead form the Patent office two days before they were due in court.  “Glow by J. Lo” was the new perfume line created by Jennifer Lopez in January 2002.  Lopez’s legal team felt that “Glow by J.Lo” would be a trademark that could be protected.  Both Lopez and Williamson legally felt they protected their intellectual properties appropriately, taking all the necessary steps. Unfortunately in 2002, a lawsuit showed differently.

After the lawsuit surfaced, so did some ethical issues in question with this case.  Glow Industries Patent was held up for years, due to its similarity to three other brands.  Even though the Patent Attorneys released the right for Williamson to continue with registering the Glow trademark, it still allowed the defendants an opportunity to utilize the previously questioned familiarity.  An action that can be viewed as ethically questionable, Jennifer Lopez’s legal team quickly moved to utilize this avenue against Glow Inc.  They spent $40,000 to buy the legal rights to Glow Kit, in turn, counter-suing Terri Williamson for trademark infringement.  There was also a certain amount of question to the ethical manner by which Lopez and her team obtained the name as well. “I was definitely concerned,” says Hal Kahn, Chairman of Macy’s East.  “My question was, Gee did they do their homework? I didn’t care about the name.  If they changed it to Chopped Liver I didn’t care as long as it was Chopped Liver by J. Lo.  I cared that they’d be blocked in their marketing campaign for Christmas.”  (Burlingham 2003)  There was not proof that Lopez or her team knew about or intentionally took the name from Glow Industries, but the speculations still surfaced.