Company won’t mask discontent over copycat

A company that markets a face mask that enables the wearer to enjoy a beverage while protecting themselves and others against the spread of COVID-19 is threatening to sue another company alleging their similar masks are dangerous knockoffs.

Sip Mask USA sent a cease-and-desist letter to its zipper mask competitor Shut Your Mouth, threatening a $1 million lawsuit and claiming the competitor is violating intellectual property rights by promoting its “unsafe knockoff,” according to the celebrity news site TMZ.com.

In the legal letter obtained by TMZ, Sip Mask claims that as early as March it cornered the market on “medical grade” and “fireproof” face coverings with zippers that allow users to sip beverages through a “straw port.” Shut Your Mouth never gained permission to start selling its version, which only features a zipper and no port to safely consume a beverage, according to the news outlet.

Shut Your Mouth has so far kept its mouth shut on the squabble.

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