According to Fashion Times UK, Patrick Ta Beauty filed a complaint on October 14 in the US District Court for the Southern District of California, suing CVS Pharmacy and cosmetics distributor Akstrom Imports over trademark infringement and unfair competition.

The brand alleges CVS has been selling its makeup despite not being an authorized retailer, and the publisher reports the brand has an exclusive retail partnership with Sephora.

The complaint seeks to stop the disputed sales, recover monetary damages, and have allegedly unauthorized products and promotional materials returned or destroyed.

Fashion Times UK notes the case also names Montreal-based distributor Akstrom Imports, which the brand alleges supplied the products to CVS and provided promotional materials bearing its trademarks.

Fashion Times UK reports the dispute began after the brand discovered its products in CVS's new Fresh Beauty Finds initiative, a program bringing prestige cosmetics brands — including Pat McGrath Labs, MAC Cosmetics, Laura Mercier and Drunk Elephant — into selected drugstores.

The publisher says shoppers online have been sharing their finds, and that one customer reportedly bought Patrick Ta's Major Volume Plumping Lip Gloss for $8 after applying coupons and rewards, compared with its usual $26 price at Sephora.

Per Fashion Times UK, the brand became aware of the CVS sales in September, sent a demand to CVS and Akstrom Imports on September 24 asking them to stop, and claims the companies did not meaningfully respond in the weeks that followed.

Neither CVS nor Patrick Ta Beauty commented publicly on the lawsuit, the publisher reports.

Fashion Times UK frames the case as raising a broader question for the cosmetics industry: whether a retailer can resell genuine products obtained through a distributor even when the brand has not authorized that retailer.

The publisher explains that US trademark law generally recognizes the first-sale doctrine, which can allow genuine goods to be resold after a first authorized sale, and that an exclusive retail partnership does not automatically make every subsequent resale of genuine merchandise an infringement.

Courts may instead consider whether the products are materially different or whether a retailer's advertising creates confusion about the brand's involvement, according to legal commentary cited by Fashion Times UK.

The publisher stresses no finding of infringement has been established and the complaint does not claim the makeup is fake or unsafe.

The reaction has been split.

Fashion Times UK reports beauty enthusiasts online have debated both the presence of prestige cosmetics at CVS and the brand's request that products be destroyed rather than sold at discounts — some commenters called the remedy wasteful, while others saw a fight over brand positioning and retail pricing.

For shoppers who bought Patrick Ta products at CVS, the publisher notes the complaint does not establish those purchases were counterfeit.

The counterpoint is playing out on the ground: WhatNow reports that New Orleans makeup artist and licensed aesthetician Meggan Ory is opening a second Makeup by Meggan storefront on November 6 at 143 Allen Toussaint Blvd in Lakeview, a retail cosmetics store that also offers professional makeup application — a model built on the brand controlling its own shelves.