Caravan Honey to Enter “Settlement Discussions” With Mānuka Charitable Trust

By Bruce Roscoe

Caravan Honey of the US has moved to enter “settlement discussions” with Mānuka Charitable Trust (MCT) in the conflict over THE MĀNUKA EFFECT trademark. AUNU Beauty of New York, a brand incubated by Caravan, uses this trademark for its range of skincare products said to contain Comvita mānuka honey.

Jennifer Krouse, founder and operator of New York-based AUNU Beauty. Source: AUNU Beauty website video. Text under the video says: “Jenn partnered with New Zealand–based Comvita… to exclusively bring its pure, potent, Comvita™ Medihoney® medical-grade Mānuka Honey to the beauty market for the first time”. https://aunubeauty.com/pages/meet-the-founder

On 5 January, MCT filed an opposition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to Caravan Honey’s THE MĀNUKA EFFECT trademark application (as detailed in our February report Mānuka Charitable Trust Scores Own Goal in Trademark Attack on Comvita Mānuka Honey Cosmetics. Although Caravan Honey’s Comvita connection was no secret, MCT’s filing stated: “Applicant is not a New Zealand entity.”

After Apiarist’s Advocate alerted Comvita and MCT to their disconnect, Comvita in January requested that MCT withdraw its opposition. MCT has not done so, and the opposition filing has entered its seventh month.

Given the short 30-day window in which oppositions can be filed from the date of publication of a trademark application with USPTO, MCT had adopted a policy of “oppose first, ask questions later” for all applications whose titles contained the word “manuka”.

In the case of THE MĀNUKA EFFECT application, questions may arise over possible Australian provenance of the mānuka honey used in AUNU products. MCT is expected to assess the issue after it reads the Caravan response to its opposition. USPTO granted an extension of the deadline for filing that response to 4 July, on grounds that “parties are engaged in settlement discussions”.

MCT’s opposition filing states: “Australian entities producing honey from the Australian version of Leptospermum scoparium and around 80 other Leptospermum species have started using the Māori term “Mānuka” to trade off Māori cultural heritage”.     

The headquarters for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. Although filings are made electronically, the nerve center that determines the fate of applications and oppositions such as those filed by Caravan Honey Co. and Mānuka Charitable Trust is housed within this building.

Tangled Web

When Scottish author Sir Walter Scott in 1808 wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave…” he can’t have been thinking about Caravan Honey and Comvita. Or maybe, through a feat of time travel, he was. Let’s untangle the sticky silk.

Comvita as of April remained a partner in the Medibee Apiaries joint venture formed with Capilano Honey of Australia in 2016 for the production of Leptospermum honeys throughout Australia. (Capilano Honey was renamed Hive & Wellness Australia in 2019).

AUNU Beauty product descriptions include the MEDIHONEY trademark, which Comvita acquired from Capilano Honey in 2014 and sold to Derma Sciences of the US in 2017. US medical device manufacturer Integra LifeSciences acquired Derma Sciences (also in 2017).

The AUNU Beauty website landing page. AUNU Beauty products are said to contain Comvita mānuka honey and are sold under THE MANUKA EFFECT trademark, which is opposed by Mānuka Charitable Trust. 

Integra LifeSciences’ website advertises a range of wound and burn treatment products under the MEDIHONEY trademark. These products are stated to contain manuka honey “derived from the nectar of the Leptospermum species”.

The USPTO’s schedule for MCT and Caravan Honey in this case now stretches to 6 December 2027. Both parties may need all that time to complete their arguments. It won’t help that Comvita is no longer a partner in the Caravan Honey venture.