And yet, even then, Williamson didn't fully comprehend just how big a problem she was facing. "I was in denial," she says. "A lot depended on how prominently they were planning to use the word glow." She soon found out. On August 2, her retail partner in Florida sent her another magazine article on Lopez's new fragrance, including photographs from the upcoming advertising campaign. What stood out, in large orange letters, was one word: Glow. Even the typeface was similar. Williamson stared at the photo, and her heart sank. Suddenly it all hit her. What store would carry her Glow products if it also had Glow by J.Lo? The confusion would hurt sales of both and create all kinds of customer-service headaches. Given the number of retailers that were likely to carry Lopez's perfume, Williamson's Glow could well be shut out of a large portion of the market.
On August 7, 2002, Glow Industries -- the company's formal name -- filed suit against Jennifer Lopez, Coty, and various unnamed parties, alleging trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition. Within hours, the news spread through the industry, making a lot of people nervous. "I was definitely concerned," says Hal Kahn, chairman of Macy's East -- which is, among department stores, the largest fragrance retailer in the country. "My question was, 'Gee, did they do their homework?' I didn't care about the name. If they changed the name to Chopped Liver, I couldn't care less, as long as it's Chopped Liver by J.Lo. I was just worried that they would be blocked in their marketing campaign for Christmas. They might have to kill all the ads."
In Paris, Catherine Walsh had even bigger concerns. Not only had huge amounts of advertising been purchased, but tons of product were being shipped to stores in the United States and more than 15 other countries. Enough articles had already appeared in magazines and newspapers to fill three enormous binders in her office. Changing the name at that point would cost a fortune, if it could be done at all.
In any event, Walsh's lawyers assured her it wasn't necessary. There were simply too many products out there, they insisted, with the word glow in their names. But the lawyers did think it would be prudent to make sure the complete phrase Glow by J.Lo, rather than Glow alone, appeared in all the advertising -- which was a bit of a problem. Ads had already been produced and placed that used just the word Glow. Walsh says those ads were pulled, although Williamson insists they continued to appear throughout the fall.
While the legal battle lines were being drawn, shipments of Glow by J.Lo were arriving in store warehouses. The first bottles were due to go on sale in Macy's at the end of August, with the national rollout beginning on September 1. As the launch approached, Walsh felt excitement laced with anxiety. "As much as we all believed in the product," she says, "as much as we thought everything was right -- the juice, the box, the price point, the ads -- there's always that anticipation."
It didn't last long. Within a week, Lancaster knew that Glow by J.Lo was going to be a phenomenal success. The biggest challenge would be keeping the bottles in stock. "I think we were all surprised," says Macy's East chairman Hal Kahn. "From the time it came in, it was by far our leading performer, which is a tremendous achievement -- to go from new to No. 1."
It was a similar story all over the country. Midway through the Christmas season, Women's Wear Daily reported that "on the top-five list of nearly every major department store retailer is Lancaster's J.Lo scent, called Glow." Outside the United States, sales were just as strong. In Germany, Walsh and her people knew within three weeks that Glow by J.Lo was a hit. Test markets in Spain and Italy did so well that Lancaster began rolling out the product there. In its first month, the fragrance did an astonishing $17.9 million in sales, which led Lancaster to forecast $47 million for the year. Even that prediction would prove too timid. Sales would reach that level in less than six months.
The good news for Catherine Walsh and Jennifer Lopez was, of course, bad news for Terri Williamson. Desperate to limit the damage, she turned to federal court. On September 24, her attorney filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asserting that Glow -- her Glow -- was suffering irreparable harm and requesting that a judge intervene as soon as possible to stop Jennifer Lopez and Coty from using the name Glow in any way, shape, or form.
The two Glows would meet in court.
"They Are Putting My Client Out of Business"
Last November 7, Terri Williamson walked into federal district court in Los Angeles fearing, above all, that she'd be told she had no case and sent home. She was accompanied by her two attorneys. One was Arthur Aaronson, a partner in a small firm in Encino, Calif., who had handled all of Glow's legal work from its inception. The other, O. Yale Lewis, was an intellectual-property litigator from Seattle whom Williamson had contacted after realizing that the case was likely to go to trial. Lewis had agreed to come in for the hearing, he says, to "buttress her team." Team J.Lo, meanwhile, was represented only by its lawyers, led by Lisa Pearson, a New York City-based trademark litigator with Fross, Zelnick, Lehrman & Zissu.
Both sides had an enormous amount riding on the hearing. Williamson believed her company's long-term viability hung in the balance. There had been such an avalanche of advertising for Glow by J.Lo since late August that she felt completely overwhelmed. Every time she turned on the television, it seemed, she saw a commercial for the fragrance, often with the tag line "It's the Glow." The ultimate indignity came in October, when the November issue of Elle appeared with an article about things that could be found in the purses of celebrities. Pamela Anderson was quoted as saying she always carried Glow by J.Lo. Williamson saw the item and immediately guessed what had happened. She contacted Anderson's assistant, who confirmed that the article had credited the wrong Glow. Even Williamson's celebrity endorsements were being hijacked by J.Lo!
