The United States Olympic and Paralympics Committee (USOPC) is suing Logan Paul and KSI’s energy drink company, Prime Hydration, accusing them of trademark infringement. According to the federal lawsuit filed in the District of Colorado, the allegation stems from Prime Hydration unlawfully using trademarked phrases such as, OLYMPIC,” “OLYMPIAN,” “TEAM USA,” and “GOING FOR GOLD” on its product packaging and advertisements. Prime Hydration had a collaboration with NBA star Kevin Durant where they printed “Team USA Kevin Durant Drink,” “Kevin Durant Olympic Prime Drink,” “Olympic Prime Drink,” “Olympic achievements,” and “Durant’s Olympic Legacy.”
The USOPC takes trademark infringement very seriously. The committee is responsible for supporting Team USA athletes, meaning athletes are helped financially until they make it to the Olympic or Paralympic Games. The USOPC licenses their trademarks to certain brands, so that they can make money for their athletes. The money from the brands is relied upon heavily to fund Team USA athletes because it does not receive much financial assistance from the federal government. If the USOPC does not protect their trademarks, then brands will feel they do not have to go through the rigorous approval process to be a licensed partner. Thus, without the sponsors, the USOPC will lose lots of money.
The USOPC allows official partners and licensees to use USOPC trademarks in recognition of their support for the athletes. These brands must meet strict guidelines. According to the guidelines once approved a brand can use USOPC’s marks for all non-commercial purposes such as;
1. Business cards
2. Advertising
3. Website
4. Signage for events, clubs, and other preapproved locations
When a brand uses a mark the brand must;
1. Clearly establish that the brand is the official governing body associate with the USOPC
2. Show the brand is the official partner of the USOPC
3. Communicate that the brand is a pipeline for future Olympians and Paralympians
Unfortunately, Prime Hydration is not an official Olympic and Paralympic sponsor, supplier, or licensee. This means that Prime Hydration should not be allowed to use any of the USOPC’s trademarks. According to the lawsuit, the USOPC feels that the unlicensed use of these trademarks might mislead the public and enable a seller to profit from associating its brand with the Olympics despite no official connection. Prime Hydration has smartly removed the product and advertisement relating to this promotion. Here is the perfect example that no matter how popular the brand is, if they are not a licensing partner then the company cannot use the marks in any way.
Recently, all major sports leagues have taken trademark infringement on their licensing marks very seriously because of the money at stake. For example, according to the Broadcast Law Blog, the NFL receives hundreds of millions of dollars from licensing the use of the “Super Bowl” trademark and logo. Even if the brand is small or someone takes out a small ad in their local newspaper, they could still be sued for trademark infringement. The NFL once sent a cease-and-desist letter to a church because they used the term “Super Bowl” to describe a viewing party where they charged people $3 to view. It might seem ridiculous, but leagues cannot afford to lose their brand deals and in essence lose huge amounts of money. Therefore, trademark protection is vital and every company should be aware of the risk of trademark infringement.
USPOC guidelines: https://www.usopc.org/commercial-and-brand-usage-guidelines
Chris D'Avanzo can be found on Twitter @_chrisdavanzo.