UTAH — Rebel Creamery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 14, 2026. The filing followed a July 16, 2026, ruling by U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee that the company intentionally infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen Ice Cream's trade dress.

In its bankruptcy documents, Rebel Creamery listed $13.78 million in assets and $23.85 million in liabilities. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream holds a $24 million claim against the debtor that is listed as disputed and under appeal. The final award against Rebel Creamery was reduced to just under $24 million from the $36.4 million in damages Van Leeuwen Ice Cream initially sought.

"The evidence at that trial left no doubt that Rebel infringed and diluted Van Leeuwen’s trade dress and did so intentionally," Judge Eric Komitee wrote. He ordered Rebel Creamery to redesign its ice cream pint packaging. In a 65-page memorandum, he wrote that Van Leeuwen Ice Cream sells pints of dairy ice cream in monochrome, pastel cardboard packages with minimalist designs and black cursive script. He noted that Rebel Creamery used "a near-identical color scheme and script on their packaging, with slight design differences to convey dietary information." He added that "Van Leeuwen and Rebel are distributed at the same grocery stores often on the same shelf and are frequently intermingled." Rebel Creamery products are sold at Target, Kroger, and Walmart nationwide.

Rebel Creamery appealed Judge Komitee's ruling on August 12, 2026. The company had formally stated in court that it was unaware of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream's existence when designing its trade dress in 2017. Rebel Creamery stated it first learned of the brand during a meeting with Wegmans in 2018.

Founder Austin Archibald made no changes to the company's packaging after a Wegmans buyer pointed out similarities between the two brands in 2018. Founders Austin and Courtney Archibald designed the company's logo and packaging in late 2017 using Adobe Illustrator. They claimed in court that they did not retain any drafts or initial records of their design process. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream's trade dress was created by the design studio Pentagram, which retained records of every design iteration.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream founders Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O’Neill first noticed Rebel Creamery's similar packaging after an employee showed them a social media post in late 2018 or early 2019. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream sued Rebel Creamery in 2021 alleging trade dress infringement. Ben Van Leeuwen stated, "We wanted every single guest who came into the store to feel like they were getting just as good of an experience as any other guests, regardless of their dietary restrictions." Van Leeuwen Ice Cream was founded in New York City in 2008 by Ben Van Leeuwen, Pete Van Leeuwen, and Laura O’Neill.

The founders raised $60,000 from 15 friends and family members to launch their first ice cream truck. Rebel Creamery was founded in late 2017 by Austin and Courtney Archibald. The company raised $80,000 through a Kickstarter campaign that reached its goal in three hours.