Court Rules Sol de Janeiro's Bum Bum Cream Packaging Lacks Trade Dress Protection

Sol de Janeiro built an empire on the Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, its cult body butter that turned a rounded orange jar with a white lid into one of beauty's most recognizable silhouettes. On March 17, 2026, a federal judge in New York dismantled the legal scaffolding protecting that image, ruling that the jar's defining features are functional and therefore unprotectable as trade dress.

Judge George B. Daniels granted summary judgment in favor of Apollo Healthcare Corp. and Costco, dismissing Sol de Janeiro's trade dress infringement counterclaim outright. The disputed product was Nutrius Brazilian Body Butter Cream, a white-jar, yellow-lid dupe that Costco had commissioned from Apollo as far back as 2021, specifically requesting that Apollo copy the Bum Bum Cream "right down to using the exact same jar." The Nutrius two-pack retails at Costco for $19.99 at under $10 per jar, against the $48 Sol de Janeiro charges for a single 8.1-ounce container.

The court's central finding cut directly at what Sol de Janeiro argued made its packaging distinctive: the rounded bottom and overhanging lid. Judge Daniels ruled each of those features serves a utilitarian purpose, placing them squarely within the functionality doctrine that bars trade dress protection for design elements that competitors need to use in order to effectively compete. Once a feature is deemed functional, it cannot be exclusively owned regardless of how iconic or market-associated it has become.

Apollo had actually initiated the litigation, filing a declaratory judgment action seeking confirmation that Sol de Janeiro's packaging was functional and therefore unenforceable. Sol de Janeiro counterclaimed, arguing the packaging had acquired distinctiveness as a source identifier. The court sided with Apollo on the functionality question at summary judgment, ending the counterclaim before trial.

The decision lands with particular weight across beauty and fashion because packaging has become a primary IP battleground in the dupe economy. Brands that invest heavily in container design, color blocking, and structural silhouettes have routinely leaned on trade dress claims as the first line of defense against white-label competitors. The Bum Bum ruling signals that when design choices serve functional ends, courts will not allow brands to convert those choices into monopolies, even against products that were deliberately engineered to look like the original.

For Sol de Janeiro, the practical consequence is that the Nutrius product can continue to occupy Costco shelves in its current form. The broader consequence for the industry is a reminder that trade dress litigation requires more than visual similarity; the disputed features must survive a functionality challenge before infringement ever enters the analysis.