‘Deliberate and in bad faith’: Olympic committee sues Prime over packaging design

Prime Hydration is being sued by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) for allegedly appropriating its phrases and trademarked symbols. The limited edition Prime drink created in collaboration with Olympic gold medalist basketball player, Kevin Durant, has been criticised for its packaging design over concerns that it’s “likely to cause confusion, mistake, and deception” for consumers.

An initial cease and desist request was sent on 10 July in an attempt to mitigate the issue without further action, yet Prime continued to distribute the alleged infringing product. With no response, the USOPC’s subsequent legal action is an elevated attempt to prevent any further infringement and sever any suggestion of affiliation between the USOPC and Prime Hydration.

The main issue arises from the use of trademarked phrasing such as “Going for Gold”, “Team USA”, “Olympian” and even the simple term “Olympic”, as well as imagery related to the Olympic rings logo (see our roundup of the best Olympics logos). In the official court document, the USOPC’s legal team claims that “Prime Hydration’s conduct has been and continues to be wilful, deliberate, and in bad faith, with malicious intent to trade on the goodwill of the USOPC and the IOC.”

With prodigious rival drinks brand Coca-Cola backing the USOPC and integrating its trademarks in promotion, legal action aims to ensure no misleading competition between Prime and the USOPC’s official sponsors. While the drink appears to have been removed from the Prime website the case is still ongoing, with no further comment from either party.

For more design disputes, check out Starbucks’ legal case against this “nearly identical” marijuana dispensary logo. If you’re after more packaging design news, check out Messi’s new drinks brand packaging that looks surprisingly familiar to Prime. And, of course, for Olympic design you’ll want to see our pick of the best Olympic logos.