Kardashians to be Sued Over Cheap Khroma Beauty Make-Up Line?

Should the Kardashian clan prepare for another lawsuit?

The Kardashians have come up with a new makeup line called Khroma Beauty.

The makeup will apparently contain all the class of the Kardashians and will be sold at such fine establishments as CVS, Sears, and Ulta, reports TMZ.

But a high-end Beverly Hills retailer already uses a similar name for his makeup brand -- Chroma Makeup -- and he's expressed concern that the Kardashians' "cheap" product will drive his customers away.

Michael Rey, a co-owner of Chroma Makeup, says that it took his brand 12 years of "blood, sweat and tears" to build its A-List clientele. However, the business owner says that all that work is now threatened by the Kardashians' new makeup line that "cheapens his products and creates confusion in the marketplace," reports TMZ.

Rey believes that once the Kardashians' new line comes out, his customers will go elsewhere, embarrassed to tell others they wear Chroma. Rey reportedly has hired a legal team to consider his options, but they have not yet formally sued the Kardashians.

If Rey should sue the Kardashians, he would likely be bringing a trademark infringement action. Even though "Khroma" and "Chroma" are not spelled exactly the same, Rey could have a valid claim as the names could be confusingly similar to consumers.

Generally, a trademark is a word or name used to indicate the source of a product and to distinguish it from other products. Trademark rights are usually used to prevent others from using the same or a confusingly similar mark.

In the case of the Kardashians, the clan created a cheap makeup line with an arguably confusingly similar name, Khroma, as a Beverly Hills makeup line, Chroma. If the Kardashian don't voluntarily change their makeup brand, they may be forced to explain in court as to why customers would not be confused by the names.

Related Resources:

• The Kardashian sisters threatened with lawsuit over new make-up line (Mirror)
• Trademark Basics (FindLaw)
• Kim Kardashian Settles Old Navy Look Alike Lawsuit (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)