The mom-and-pop team behind Airborne is back in the immune-supporting game — and Big Pharma doesn’t like it.
Reckitt Benckiser, the British drug and health care company, has demanded Rider and Victoria McDowell stop selling Victoria’s Family Formula — a tablet that promises to enhance a person’s immune system.
The McDowells started selling their product, which competes with Airborne, 13 years after the couple sold Airborne. The McDowells introduced their new immune-enhancing product to the public in March 2016 — which was three years after their non-compete expired.
Reckitt Benckiser, which acquired Airborne in 2012, initially had no problem with the upstart.
But that changed in March when the McDowells received a cease-and-desist letter accusing them of copying Airborne’s “trade dress.” VFF features a stylized drawing of Ms. McDowell in a sweater; Airborne boxes display a drawing of a man in a suit.
In response, the McDowells have asked a California federal court judge for a declaratory judgment that finds VFF, which commits all after-tax profits to pediatric cancer research, does not infringe on Airborne’s mark.



