Logan Paul and Lionel Messi’s legal battle over hydration drinks escalated this week with Prime Hydration filing a countersuit to the soccer star’s original claims.
Prime Hydration had been threatening to sue over trademark infringement since before Messi’s side filed its original lawsuit in early October, and finally submitted its claim Wednesday.
In June, the Argentine footballer announced his new hydration drink, Más+ by Messi, created by Mark Anthony Brands International, which is the same beverage company that makes White Claw and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Prime Hydration cofounder JJ Olatunji, better known as KSI, and others soon started pointing out the similarities between the bottle designs on social media. “Looks familiar…” KSI, an influencer and boxer, posted in reference to the new drink.
Mark Anthony International filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Oct. 8 against Prime Hydration claiming “anticompetitive efforts to monopolize functional design features that are commonplace in the hydration beverage industry.” The suit says Prime sent the company cease-and-desist letters, and claims its competitor’s arguments are invalid because of the variety of colors used in Prime’s special edition designs.
Prime Hydration shot back with a countersuit Wednesday, which detailed how the drink makers intentionally designed a bottle that wouldn’t look like Gatorade, Powerade, Body Armor, or Vitamin Water. The lawsuit also included examples of fans calling Messi’s product similar to Logan Paul’s. Prime Hydration claims that Más+ by Messi bottles appear to come from the same manufacturer, and they use the same colors, design, matching caps, and even copied its slogan with “Replenish Refresh Revive.” Prime Hydration’s line is “Refresh, Replenish, Refuel.”
Paul and KSI launched Prime in January 2022, and the drink has picked up big soccer endorsements from athletes like Erling Haaland and teams like Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, and Messi’s former club, FC Barcelona. Other prominent athletes with a Prime deal include Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Aaron Judge, and Kevin Durant. Some of Prime’s drinks contain caffeine (making them an energy drink), which has brought them some scrutiny from politicians, but none of Messi’s do.
It’s not Prime’s first foray into legal drama this year. In July, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee sued Prime Hydration in federal court for using trademarked phrases like “Olympian” and “Team USA” on its drinks and promotional materials.
Paul, who himself competes in WWE, recently made a widely seen appearance at his brother Jake’s fight against Mike Tyson on Netflix, and was seen spraying Jake’s “W” body spray on his brother after the fight and knocking his hat off his head. In a promotional video, Paul apologized and said he “ruined” his brother’s moment.
