On March 8, 2016, Poo~Pourri sued Reckitt Benckiser for copyright infringement, unfair competition, trademark infringement, and dilution in violation of the Copyright Act. Scentsible LLC, the Dallas-based company that owns Poo-Pourri, is suing the makers of V.I.Poo for its marketing approach.

The defendant slavishly copied Poo-Pourri’s copyrighted advertising materials, including its famous ‘Girls Don’t Poop’ video, which was released in 2013, and has now been viewed over 36 million times on YouTube. Suzanne “Suzy” Batiz invented the toilet deodorizing product made up of a blend of essential oils that creates a protective barrier or film on the water’s surface. This barrier is designed to keep unpleasant bathroom odors from coming into contact with the air.

Since 2007, Poo~Pourri Before-You-Go Toilet Spray has been stopping bathroom odor before it begins so you can leave the bathroom smelling better than you found it. With over 125 million combined YouTube views and over 10 million bottles sold, Poo~Pourri has become a pop culture sensation and start-up success. Poo~Pourri is sold in over 9,000 retail locations nationwide and has earned the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval in 2013 and an Edison award in 2014. The company was also ranked on Inc.’s 5000 Fastest Growing Companies.

Poo-Pourri, a line of toilet deodorizing products and a cheeky viral video advertisement, dumped a lawsuit on the Canadian maker of the “Poopee Chic” product linealleging trademark infringement and dilution.

Scentsible LLC, which does business as Poo-Pourri, has raised a stink about Canadian LLC Prelam Enterprises Ltd.’s line of competing toilet deodorizers that the Texas company says is likely to confuse consumers into believing it is affiliated with Poo-Pourri’s own given the similar use of scatological humor in product names and tag lines.

Poo-Pourri is well-known for its extensive and novel use of the term ‘POO’ for its products and in its advertising,” the suit states. “As a result of Poo-Pourri’s extensive use and promotion of ‘POO’ for its products, the term ‘POO’ is widely associated with Poo-Pourri and the POO mark is famous and well-known.”

Poo-Pourri owns such federally registered trademark names as “Poo Pourri,” “Poo La La,” “Crap Shooter,” “King of the Throne” and “Heavy Doody;” tag lines such as “Spritz the bowl before you go and no one else will ever know;” and marketing labels such as “New to Poo” and “Getting To Know Poo,” according to its complaint.

The company’s poo-related trademarks have long been associated with Poo-Pourri since its founding in 2006, and Prelam Enterprises’ release of its own line of toilet deodorizers bearing purportedly similar marks threatens to dilute that association, the company alleges.

On its end, Prelam has filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the marks “Poopee Chic” and “Before You Poop.” In 2014, it launched a line of toilet deodorizers bearing such names as “Caripoo,” “Oh Crap,” “Love At First Poo” and “Turd Degree Murder,” while extending the punnery on its website through its “Pootique” online retail store and “Poomunity” social media pages, Poo-Pourri alleges.

The Texas Company is seeking damages and injunctive relief for federal trademark infringement and dilution and unfair competition and seeks to bar Prelam from using the word “poo” in its product names and labels.