An Ottawa woman who has been selling her custom spice blends since she was 13 says she’s being forced to change her company’s name after lawyers for the British pop band Spice Girls threatened to sue her.

Lily Bond, 22, is the owner of Spyce Girlz Seasoning, an Ottawa business that began with her and her mom at local farmer’s markets, and which is now expanding into grocery stores across Canada.

But just as she was moving her local business into the national market, she got a letter from Smart & Biggar, the law firm representing the Spice Girls in Canada, threatening to sue her for trademark infringement.

“That was kind of a surreal experience,” Bond told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. “Who would think that a Canadian girl who sells spices is affiliated with the British U.K. pop band that was popular in the ’90s?”

Neither Smart & Biggar, nor a representative for the Spice Girls, responded to CBC’s request for comment. 

Bond says she started selling spice blends nine years ago.

“I was being raised by a single mom and money was a little bit tight growing up, and I was trying to buy a computer because I was going into high school,” she said.

Her mother helped her out in the early days, driving her to local farmers markets and helping her sell her wares. 

“People would always see my mom and I together, and they would refer to us as ‘the spice girls,’ and the name just kind of caught on,” she said.

She didn’t imagine she’d find herself butting heads with a globally famous pop group, she says. But to be on the safe side, she decided to tweak the spelling, branding her company Spyce Girlz Seasoning.

In 2022, she applied for a trademark in Canada, and it was approved on Oct. 12, 2023. But on March 8, 2024, Smarts & Biggar challenged Bond’s trademark with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. 

The law firm also sent a letter to Bond, threatening legal action if she didn’t cease using the name, noting it was “likely to lead the average Canadian consumer to mistakenly believe that your goods are somehow associated with our clients.”

Why she decided to give up the fight

At first, Bond says, she tried to fight back. She filed a Section 45 proceeding, forcing the band to defend its trademark in Canada.

“This was about a year of me going back and forth trying to fight this on my own. I couldn’t afford a lawyer because legal fees really do rack up. And all the money that I’m making, I’m putting back into inventory, sales and marketing,” she said.

Ultimately, she says, the battle proved untenable, especially as she was trying to grow her business.

“This is what’s holding us back from growing, is that we are under this name,” she said. “So we have to rebrand in order to continue forward.”

Bond says she’ll be unveiling her new name and a brand in the next couple of months. She’s worried about the toll a rebranding will take on her business, but says she’s emboldened by the support she’s received from Canadians since going public with her story on CTV News earlier this week. 

“We’re getting orders all the way from Newfoundland to British Columbia,” she said. “It’s just been incredible to see all this support for a small Canadian business.”

As for the Spice Girls? Bond likes to think the actual pop stars had nothing to do with the lawsuit threats.

“Just with the awareness that I do have of their brand, it’s about female empowerment [and] girl power,” she said. “I don’t think they would be trying to take me down. I don’t know, but I hope not.”

Asked if she’s a fan of their music, Bond professed her interests skew more Canadian.

“I’m an ’80s rock fan,” she said. “So, Rush.”