Geni, Cyvex Promoting Pomegranate Ingredients

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. & IRVINE, Calif.—Geni Herbs and Cyvex Nutrition each issued statements regarding the resolution of a dispute involving the company’s trade names covering their pomegranate ingredients. Geni Herbs, based in Indiana, supplies PomElla® while California-based Cyvex supplies PomActive®.

According to Geni, it sent a cease and desist demand to Cyvex over the 2004 launch of an ingredient named PomEllagic, later changed to PomActive. Geni stated the demand was necessary to protect its PomElla trademark, as the initial Cyvex logo appeared similar to that of the Geni product. “We are very pleased with the result of our policing and enforcement efforts,” said Sonya Cropper, vice president of marketing for Geni Herbs (www.geniherbs.com). “We will continue to vigorously defend the identity and formulation of our botanical ingredients.”

In Cyvex’s statement, the company stated the initial soft launch of its pomegranate product used the PomEllagic name, but that the name was changed independently and prior to any contact with Geni. “Cyvex Nutrition’s strategy of introducing nutraceutical compounds is to combine a soft launch and test market before the official launch,” said Charlene Lee, director of sales and marketing at Cyvex (www.cyvex.com). “When we changed the name of our product ... we wanted to go forward with a name that conveyed a more positive and easily understood approach.” In addition, Cyvex sent a courtesy letter to Geni asking the company to refrain from any use of Cyvex’s PomActive mark.