On Wednesday, May 6th in Sacramento, CA, a Federal Court issued an order requiring Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VPX) to immediately remove Muscle Power from the marketplace after concluding that the product infringes on CytoSport\u2019s trademark rights of Muscle Milk\u00ae.<\/p>\n
This preliminary injunction was prompted after CytoSport filed a lawsuit against VPX, stating that Muscle Power\u2019s packaging, or \u201ctrade dress,\u201d was deceptively similar to Muscle Milk\u00ae\u2019s packaging.\u00a0 In its decision, the court stated that \u201cVPX has chosen an identical font, in an identical color, on an identically shaped package, and placed the mark on the package in an identical location.\u201d\u00a0 The court also stated that \u201cwhen the marks are viewed as a whole with each product\u2019s respective trade dress, the court has no difficulty concluding that the two marks are overwhelmingly similar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon concluding that VPX has violated CytoSport\u2019s trademark rights, the court also stated that \u201cVPX could have easily used a trade dress more consistent with its other RTD products, e.g. Redline, Black Pearl and Pump 7.\u201d\u00a0 Given that the injunction is preliminary in nature, the lawsuit will continue while the injunction is in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are gratified by the court\u2019s ruling and will continue to vigorously enforce our rights to protect our brand, our marketing partners, and our consumers against confusion in the marketplace,\u201d says Greg Pickett, Co-Founder \/CEO of CytoSport.<\/p>\n
\u00a0More discussion on this on the Getbig Boards, at<\/p>\n