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The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is suing an energy drink brand affiliated with a pair of YouTube stars, accusing the company of trademark infringement.
In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Court of Colorado on Friday, the Olympic Committee alleges YouTube stars’ Logan Paul and KSI’s energy drink company PRIME, has been using trademarked symbols and phrases as part of a recent promotion featuring NBA star and 2024 U.S.A. men’s basketball team member Kevin Durant.
The lawsuit describes Prime Hydration’s marketing campaign as “willful, deliberate, and in bad faith,” in its use of trademarked phrases and symbols associated with the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
PRIME uses Olympic Games trademarked phrases
According to the lawsuit, the energy drink brand repeatedly used “Olympic-related terminology and trademarks” in its product packaging and in online advertising campaigns with Durant.
The phrases include “Olympic,” “Olympian,” “Team USA,” and Going for Gold,” according to the lawsuit.
Advertising copy included in the lawsuit for various PRIME products show repeated references to phrases such as “Kevin Durant Olympic Prime Drink,” and “Celebrate Greatness with the Kevin Durant Olympic Prime Drink!” along with
“Olympic Achievements,” and “Kevin Durant Olympic Legacy.”
More:Schumer calls for FDA probe into caffeine content of PRIME energy drinks
As of Monday, the posts cited in the lawsuit were no longer visible on Prime Hydration’s social media channels, including Instagram and LinkedIn.
According to the lawsuit, the Olympic Committee contacted Prime Hydration on July 10, requesting that the company stop using all trademarked phrases in advertising materials. Those warnings apparently went unheeded, as the brand continued to feature advertising on multiple platforms featuring Durant holding up specially branded bottles of the beverage, the suit claims.
Not the first legal skirmish for PRIME
This isn’t the first time criticism has been leveled at the YouTube-star-fronted energy drink brand.
Last year, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate PRIME because of the extremely high levels of caffeine present in its products and its marketing that could target young people.
Prime Hydration was also sued in April 2024 in the Southern District of New York over “misleading and deceptive practices” regarding the brand’s 12-ounce drinks containing between 215-225 milligrams of caffeine, above the advertised level of 200 milligrams.
In April. Logan Paul took to TikTok to defend the energy drink brand, posting a 3-minute long video denying that the beverage contained excessive amounts of caffeine as well as PFAS, or “forever chemicals.”
“First off, anyone can sue anyone at any time that does not make the lawsuit true,” Paul said in the April TikTok video. “And in this case, it is not… one person conducted a random study and has provided zero evidence to substantiate any of their claims.”
The Olympic Committee’s lawsuit seeks all profits associated with the further sale of the energy drinks, as well as an unstated monetary amount in damages.
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com
