Rebel Creamery's keto-ice-cream bet: $23.8M trade-dress loss, then Chapter 11

Rebel Creamery makes full-fat, zero-sugar keto ice cream pints sold nationwide at Walmart, Kroger, Safeway and other grocery chains.

That keto ice cream could win mass retail wearing Van Leeuwen's distinctive pastel-pint look — and that the trade-dress risk was worth it, even after a buyer warned them.

Austin and Courtney Archibald founded Rebel Creamery in 2017 at the height of the keto boom. Van Leeuwen had redesigned its pints in 2016 — monochromatic pastel cardboard, matching lids, black script with an exaggerated initial — and its growth roughly doubled. Rebel launched with a near-identical look; a Wegmans buyer warned the founders about the similarity before Rebel's first retail launch, and they made no changes.

Van Leeuwen sued in April 2021. After a bench trial, U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee ruled on July 16, 2026 that Rebel's packaging infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen's trade dress and that the founders' story of independent creation was 'clearly fabricated' — survey evidence showed a 34.3% net confusion rate and shoppers and store employees intermingled the brands. He awarded $23.785 million (two-thirds of Rebel's $35.5M total profits, cut by 33% for demand driven by the keto trend), permanently enjoined the packaging, and ordered a full redesign.

Rebel appealed on August 12, then filed Chapter 11 on August 14, 2026 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah, reporting roughly $13.78M in assets against $23.85M in liabilities, with Van Leeuwen's judgment listed as a disputed unsecured claim.

Rebel's packaging deliberately replicated all four elements of Van Leeuwen's distinctive trade dress, creating a strikingly similar shelf presence rather than an accidental resemblance.

A retail buyer's warning before launch and the absence of any design files turned the defense of independent creation into a bad-faith finding.

The 33% profits reduction shows that even a genuinely differentiated product (keto) could not escape liability for the borrowed visual identity.

Disgorgement of profits — not lost sales — meant the entire win of the keto boom was at risk, making the packaging bet fatal.

A product can win the market and still lose everything if its packaging borrowed a rival's trade dress; ignoring a buyer's warning and keeping no design record reads as bad faith in court.

As of 2026-09-02, Rebel Creamery operates under Chapter 11 in the District of Utah. It appealed the $23.785M judgment on August 12, 2026 and filed the bankruptcy petition on August 14, reporting about $13.78M in assets (including roughly $5.22M cash) against $23.85M in liabilities; Van Leeuwen's claim is listed as disputed pending appeal. The brand's website still sells pints (several flavors marked 'sales paused'), and management has said it plans to keep the ice cream widely available while the appeal proceeds. Retail availability and the outcome of the appeal remain unresolved.