Clorox vs. Method: Loves Me, Loves Me Not...

Two brands are fighting over the humble daisy. Mother Earth will not be amused.

Method founders Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan were gently banging the green drum slowly, as early as 2004. Method, whose mantra is “join people against dirty,” was a pioneer in green marketing, creating a product line of non-toxic cleaning agents with pleasing aesthetics and humor to boot. They used the daisy in their brands but didn’t register it with the US Patent Office, believing that particular patent was held by Mother Earth.

Enter Clorox, which in 2008 introduced Green Works, a line of "natural green cleaners designed to compete with the likes of Seventh Generation and Method.”

Green Works was the first environmentally sensitive product line from a major consumer products company. And being a major consumer products company, in 2009, Clorox's corporate lawyers registered the daisy mark, "consisting of a flower with yellow petals with orange shades appearing toward the center of the flower, green center, and black shadow surrounding the green center."

As the New York Times' Stuart Elliott quipped, it's petals to the metal time as the companies fight over rights to use a yellow daisy.Continue reading...