PepsiCo has won a reversal of a court ruling that forbade it to use the word “Rise” for an energy drink extension of its Mtn Dew brand.
A lower federal court had ruled in November that Mtn Dew Rise Energy infringed on the trademark of Rise Brewing Co., which markets coffee-based beverages. That judge issued an injunction forbidding PepsiCo from using the word “Rise” on packaging or marketing.
But the Second Circuit Court overturned that decision on July 22, ruling that “Rise” is too common a word to deserve trademark protection, especially when it comes to marketing coffee and/or energy drinks.
“When a mark so clearly evokes the claimed virtues of the product it references, that mark, although perhaps muscular as a marketing tool, is weak under the trademark law,” U.S. Circuit Judge Pierre Leval wrote for the three-judge panel.
