Enjoying a serving of frozen dessert on a hot summer day, or at any time for that matter, has grown in popularity as ice cream store industry growth rose by 5.8% to $7.4 billion in the five years through 2025, according to IBISWorld. The industry grew by 0.9% in 2025 alone.
Ice cream company competition has led to court battles in some cases, with one company filing for bankruptcy protection as it faces a lawsuit.
Popular ice cream manufacturer Rebel Creamery LLC, which sells its Rebel Ice Cream at major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Kroger supermarkets, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its debts after losing a trademark infringement lawsuit judgment.
Rebel Creamery files for bankruptcy
The Midway, Utah-based debtor filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah on Aug. 14, listing $10 million to $50 million in assets and liabilities, according to court documents.
All litigation against Rebel Creamery is subject to an automatic stay while the debtor’s bankruptcy case proceeds in court.
The debtor filed its petition after Judge Eric Komitee of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on July 16 awarded plaintiff ice cream company Van Leeuwen $23.8 million in disgorged profits from Rebel Creamery for violating its trademark rights based on the defendant’s use of similar product packaging.
Trademark rights violation ruling
In his order, Komitee ruled that that Rebel Creamery intentionally copied Van Leeuwen’s branding and ordered the defendant to redesign its ice cream packaging, which consists of cardboard monochromatic pints with matching monochromatic lids, use of a pastel color palette, black script typeface lettering with an exaggerated capital letter, and an overall minimalistic design aesthetic, according to court documents on Justia.
The court found that there was evidence of actual confusion in the marketplace between Van Leeuwen and Rebel, according to the order.
“The evidence at trial left no doubt that Rebel infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen’s trade dress and did so intentionally,” Komitee wrote in his order. “As a result, Rebel will be enjoined from selling the infringing products and required to redesign its packaging to avoid any further infringement.”
“Rebel will also be required to disgorge its profits from selling infringing pints,” Komitee wrote.
Judge awards plaintiff $23.8 million
“Van Leeuwen is entitled to $23.785 million of Rebel’s profits from selling infringing ice cream pints,” according to the order. “The Clerk of the Court is respectfully directed to enter judgment for plaintiff and to close the case.”
Van Leeuwen was founded in 2008 and redesigned its packaging in 2014 and again to its current design in August 2016, according to Komitee’s order. Van Leeuwen’s annual growth rate more than doubled from 35.8% between 2014 and 2016 to 91.6% between 2017 and 2018.
Rebel Creamery was founded in September 2017, over a year after Van Leeuwen’s latest redesign of its packaging. Rebel’s packaging began appearing in grocery stores in August 2018 and was discovered by a Van Leeuwen employee in late 2018 or early 2019, according to court papers.
Van Leeuwen filed lawsuit in 2021
Van Leeuwen filed its lawsuit against Rebel Creamery in April 2021, seeking injunctive relief requiring Rebel to repackage its products and account for and pay for the profits from its infringement, to which Komitee ruled in favor of Van Leeuwen.
Rebel Creamery filed a notice of appeal of Komitte’s order with the U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 12, according to PacerMonitor.
A spokesperson for Rebel Creamery was not immediately available for comment.
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