Plum Island Soap files lawsuit to protect 'Man Can' - The Salem News

PLUM ISLAND — The “Man Can” is Plum Island Soap Company’s most important product, and once again its owner is going to court to protect the name and stop a business owner from selling a copy-cat product. 

According to a civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston on Feb. 2, an Alabama-based company, 1818 Farms LLC, began marketing The Man of the Farm Grooming Can in 2014, a name that infringes on the patented name The Man Can, held by Plum Island Soap Company.

“The purchasing public is likely to be confused, and such use is likely to cause mistake or to deceive the public as the source or origin of the respective goods, causing irreparable harm to Plum Island (Soap Company) for which there is no adequate remedy at law,” the lawsuit reads. 

The Man Can, available in shops across the country, features soap, shaving gel, bay rum oil, hand butter and a body mitt — all in a gallon-sized paint can.

Last October, Plum Island Soap attorney Jeffrey Baker demanded that 1818 Farms LLC cease and desist using the name The Man of the Farm Grooming Can, and all other possibly confusing names. 

In January, 1818 Farms LLC attorney Jon Holland informed Baker that 1818 Farms LLC would stop using the name. But while the two sides worked on the details of a settlement agreement, 1818 Farms LLC filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alabama for declaratory judgment in an attempt to keep using the name. 

That prompted Baker to file the Feb. 2 complaint, according to the lawsuit.

“As a result of the 1818’s conduct, Plum Island (Soap Company) has suffered and continues to suffer great harm and has been damaged,” the lawsuit reads. 

When reached by telephone Wednesday, Baker said that 1818 Farms LLC’s reneging of its agreement prompted his complaint in U.S. District Court. 

Holland declined to comment on the merits of Plum Island Soap’s lawsuit, other than to say the charges were false. 

“Our client denies the allegations by the Plum Island Soap Company in that particular complaint,” Holland said. 

In a November interview with The Daily News, Plum Island Soap owner Michele Diodati called the Man Can her company’s most popular product.  

“Every time I check email, I go, ‘Thank God for The Man Can, thank God for The Man Can.’ It carries us (through the winter),” Diodati said in November. 

The Man Can is available online at Amazon, Gift Tree and other virtual shopping sites. Locally, it is available at the shop for $50 and at Soak on State Street.

Baker declined to comment on the merits of the case but said Diodati was taking the lawsuits in stride.  

“She’s a businesswoman, that’s all you need to know,” Baker said, adding that his next court appearance regarding the complaint has yet to be scheduled. 

According to the lawsuit, Diodati is seeking monetary damages related to lost sales and attorney fees and an immediate halt to the sale of The Man of the Farm Grooming Can under that name.

This isn’t the first lawsuit filed on behalf of the Man Can. In 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton ordered Pennsylvania-based Danielle and Company Inc. and Danielle Kelli Fleming, to cease marketing products using the names The Man Can, The Manly Man Can, The Modern Man Can, The Classic Man Can or any other confusingly similar names.

Staff writer Dave Rogers can be reached by email at drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.

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