This may be a Prime example of how to anger the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
Prime Hydration – the sports beverage brand founded by social media personalities Logan Paul and KSI – is facing a federal lawsuit from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which is accusing the beverage company of trademark infringement.
The committee is alleging in a lawsuit filed in the District of Colorado that Prime Hydration had used trademarked phrases, which included “OLYMPIC,” “OLYMPIAN,” “TEAM USA” and “GOING FOR GOLD,” in online marketing of its products, specifically pointing to its drink that features NBA superstar Kevin Durant, NBC News reported the lawsuit stating.
“Prime Hydration’s conduct has been and continues to be willful, deliberate, and in bad faith, with malicious intent to trade on the goodwill of the USOPC and the IOC,” the committee wrote in its lawsuit, per the report.
The committee also described the trademark infringement as “willful” and “blatant.”
They also alleged that Paul’s company had caused “damage and irreparable injury” to the organization that supports Team USA’s athletes.
The suit is seeking all of the profit that Prime Hydration brought in from products that had been infringing on Olympic trademarks, the New York Times reported.
The specific beverage made in partnership with Durant, who is a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team competing in Paris, was described as “Team USA Kevin Durant Drink” as well as the “Kevin Durant Olympic Prime Drink,” per NBC News.
Coca-Cola has the exclusive right to use Olympic trademarks and the lawsuit states that the beverage company made a “significant monetary contribution” to be able to use them.
It also alleged that the trademark infringement by Prime Hydration threatened the value of the sponsorship deal.
The suit stated that the Olympic Committee’s lawyer got in contact with Prime Hydration to ask the company to stop using the trademarks, but drinks were still shipped out to stores and featured on its LinkedIn account.
The drink appeared to be removed from the company website and social media posts that were mentioned in the suit were taken down, NBC News reported.
Prime Hydration was founded by Paul and KSI – real name Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji – in 2022 and the beverage company has become a popular sports drink brand since then.
The company makes both a sports drink and energy drink and has partnership deals with a number of athletes across the sports spectrum, including Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Manchester City star Erling Haaland.
