Bottle Battle: Lawsuit Between Rapper 50 Cent and Rémy Martin Over Cognac Brands Reaches Settlement
(Photo: Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA/AP Images)
After several years of litigation, 50 Cent and Rémy Martin reached a settlement on June 1. E. Remy Martin & Co and Sire Spirits LLC requested that the Manhattan Federal court keep the details of the settlement sealed. With this, the feud over Cognac bottle designs appears to have come to a close.
Back in August 2021, Rémy Martin sued Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s company Sire Spirits for allegedly copying the Centaure de Diamant’s distinctive jewel-shaped glass bottle design. The major Cognac brand claimed that 50 Cent’s Branson Cognac bottle design was a “blatant attempt” to trade off of Rémy Martin’s good reputation.
(Left) Branson Cognac X.O. (Right) Rémy Martin Centaure de Diamant Cognac
The “P.I.M.P.” rapper through his company Sire Spirit launched Branson Cognac in 2018 and began selling its XO Cognac using the bottle design in question in early 2020. However, the Rémy Cointreau-owned brand, which also owns Mount Gay Rum, had reportedly been using its bottle design for its cognac for 35 years.
50 Cent previously denied the copyright infringement claims made by Rémy Martin. His attorney in this case, Reena Jain insinuated that the Cognac titan was “on a mission to eliminate Sire Spirits from the Cognac market.”
Sire Spirits and Rémy Martin requested a stay of action this past February to allow time to complete settlement negotiations.
According to TMZ, a spokesperson for Rémy Martin said they’re pleased to have this resolved and the brand respects 50 Cent’s “entry into the cognac market.”
At this time it is unclear if Sire Spirits conceded to Rémy Martin and there will be a change to the bottle design. This seems unlikely since both companies agreed to the settlement without the court having to make a judgment. We will see if in time any bottle changes are made to either of the cognac brands.
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