Men’s grooming brand Stryx says they received death threats after Good Light founder’s call-out

November 23, 2021

Men’s grooming brand Stryx says they have received death threats, and they are concerned for the safety of their employees.

Elizabeth Ng Glock, the head of operations and an owner of Stryx, wrote in an email to NextShark that Stryx employees have received death threats following a legal scuffle with Good Light founder David Yi, made public by Yi on social media. Stryx Co-Founder Jon Shanahan received a threatening Instagram direct message that included a photo of his children he had posted.

Legal threat

Stryx’s legal team originally sent an email on Nov. 8 to Good Light founder David Yi, as NextShark previously reported, which included a cease-and-desist letter for using the name “pimple patches” for one of his products.

On Tuesday Nov. 16, Yi posted a screenshot of the email and his reaction to Stryx’s warning on Instagram, where it has amassed almost 8,000 likes as of Nov. 23.

The email claimed that Yi’s brand violated Stryx’s trademark on the term “pimple patches.” Both companies have “pimple patch” products. Stryx’s product is called “PIMPLE PATCHES.”

Stryx, however, does not have an active trademark of the “pimple patches” product name, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website. The application for the trademark was accepted by the USPTO on April 30 and is currently awaiting evaluation.

Stryx responds

Glock reached out to NextShark to point out only one side of the story that has been shared publicly so far. “We have tried to respectively handle this off-line away from the misconception of the public eye,” she said in an email to NextShark.

After Yi made the post to his Instagram, Styx issued a public letter on Nov. 17 and has completely retracted any and all action against Yi’s brand. “Recently we learned of some hurtful comments good light made about our company on certain social media platforms,” the company wrote in their letter. “We are a small, ethnically diverse company that cares deeply about our customers, our employees, and the rights of all companies to compete and succeed in the marketplace.”

Glock admitted that sending the cease-and-desist letter was “heavy-handed” and a “misstep” and that they immediately backed off their original stance. Glock said Stryx was following the advice of their attorneys at the time.

“We’re a small business too,” Glock wrote. “We’re learning from our mistakes.”

Stryx has purportedly attempted to get in contact with Yi to discuss the matter further, but Yi has not responded as of Tuesday morning.

“We are trying to make this right,” Glock said. “We can’t grow and learn without conversations and forgiveness.”

Featured Image Courtesy of Stryx and Good Light

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