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The fur is flying in a legal dispute between two rival toymakers. Kelly Toys, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned company behind the popular Squishmallows stuffed toy, is suing Build-A-Bear, alleging the company rips off its mega-popular design.
Kelly Toys claims Build-A-Bear’s recently launched Skoosherz line copies its own products, including using “same distinctive trade dress,” according to a lawsuit filed Monday in California District Court.
Squishmallows’ “huggable friends,” as the suit describes them, were first released in 2016 and have since become a hot item, with fans showing off their collections on social media. In 2023, Squishmallows were the top-selling toy in the country, according to market research firm Circana.
The complaint claims the Skoosherz plush toys have all the same distinct characteristics as Squishmallows, including their dress, embroidered facial features, velvety exterior and more. Even the name “Skoosherz” is intended to confuse, according to the lawsuit.
“Rather than competing fairly in the marketplace by creating its own unique concepts and product lines, Defendant Build-A-Bear, a company worth over 300 million dollars, decided that it would be easier to simply copy, imitate and profit off the popularity and goodwill of Squishmallows, all in the hopes of confusing consumers into buying its products instead of Squishmallows,” Kelly Toys alleged in the suit.
Kelly Toys is seeking unspecified damages and for Build-A-Bear to pull its products from the marketplace.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired Kelly Toys in 2022 as part of a nearly $12 billion acquisition of insurance company Alleghany, which owned toymaker Jazwares.
Build-A-Bear has filed its own suit against Kelly Toys, claiming it is not in violation of the company’s intellectual property rights. it added that Skoosherz products are its own designs and have been sold for years.
