Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
What’s a nurdle? Well, Colgate and Glaxo are sparring over the word
To paraphrase William Shakespeare, would a nurdle by any other name still be a nurdle?
For those who don’t know, a nurdle — a wave-like gob of toothpaste applied on a toothbrush — is at the center of a trademark lawsuit filed by consumer product company Colgate-Palmolive against rival GlaxoSmithKline.
Colgate sued Glaxo, which owns the Aquafresh brand, seeking a court order that its packaging for Colgate toothpaste does not infringe trademarks held by Glaxo, which had filed a trademark application for the nurdle design.
Glaxo loves the word so much that it even created Nurdle World, the home of Milky, Lilly and Billy (pictured above). To wit: “Nurdle World helps children (and parents) understand more about healthy gums, strong teeth and fresh breath, while having fun,” the company said on the web site.
Check Out Line: The slow return of the splurge
Check out signs that consumers are getting more comfortable with spending and, at times, even splurging.
Estee Lauder reported a far better-than-expected 62 percent jump in quarterly profit and boosted its full-year forecast as consumers began to splurge on cosmetics after a year-long slide in sales. Results were helped by strong growth in Asia, new products, and a better-than-expected performance in airport stores and in the United States.
Check Out Line: The consumer products earnings parade
Check out consumer product powerhouses including Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Colgate, inundating Wall Street with quarterly reports on Wednesday.
The reports largely showed that the companies are finding successful ways to navigate the consumer spending slowdown and the commodity price surge that has raised their cost of doing business.
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