CytoSport Secures Preliminary Court-Ordered Injunction of VPX Muscle Power Due to Infringement of Muscle Milk Trademark

On Wednesday, May 6th in Sacramento, CA, a Federal Court issued an order requiring Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VPX) to immediately remove VPX Muscle Power from the marketplace after concluding that the product infringes on CytoSport’s trademark rights of Muscle Milk.

This preliminary injunction was prompted after CytoSport filed a lawsuit against VPX, stating that Muscle Power’s packaging, or “trade dress,” was deceptively similar to Muscle Milk’s packaging. In its decision, the court stated that “VPX 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.” The court also stated that “when the marks are viewed as a whole with each product’s respective trade dress, the court has no difficulty concluding that the two marks are overwhelmingly similar.”

Upon concluding that VPX has violated CytoSport’s trademark rights, the court also stated that “VPX could have easily used a trade dress more consistent with its other RTD products, e.g. Redline, Black Pearl and Pump 7.” Given that the injunction is preliminary in nature, the lawsuit will continue while the injunction is in place.

“We are gratified by the court’s ruling and will continue to vigorously enforce our rights to protect our brand, our marketing partners, and our consumers against confusion in the marketplace,” says Greg Pickett, Co-Founder /CEO of CytoSport.

About CytoSport
CytoSport, the maker of Muscle Milk, is among the largest sport nutrition protein beverage companies in the U.S. and offers a complete line of protein-enhanced powders, shakes and bars. Muscle Milk was recently named the 2008 Ready-to-Drink Beverage of the Year by bodybuilding.com , Best Functional Beverage and Beverage of the Year by BevNet and 2009 Company of the Year by Beverage Forum presented by Beverage Marketing Corporation and Beverage World

Source: BevNet