"" from="" court="" documents="" in="" the="" southern="" district="" of="" width="620" height="372" /> Energy drinks by Florida company Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. called "Bang," above, and energy drinks by Monster Energy Co. called "Reign Total Body Fuel,"" below. Photo: from court documents in the Southern District of Florida.

A messy trademark fight between energy drinks giant Monster Energy Co. and its Florida-based rival Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. came to a head Monday, when U.S. District Judge Roy Altman in the Southern District of Florida canceled a disputed trademark and sent the parties to trial with a little less to argue about.

It's a lawsuit fraught with contention and counterclaims. It also features reams of attorneys from Florida, California, New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Washington State.

The dispute began in March 2019, when Monster launched a line of sports performance drinks called Reign Total Body Fuel. Vital Pharmaceuticals, doing business as VPX Sports, alleged that was a knock-off version of its Bang energy drinks, since both came in black cans with bright, multicolored lettering. VPX then launched its own line of drinks under the brand name "REIGN."

Monster argued Bang's packaging wasn't distinctive enough to be protected by trade dress — which refers to a product's visual appearance or packaging. But Altman found a juror could conclude otherwise, noting that even a Monster employee said the Bang packaging colors pop off the shelf.

"It is difficult to see how the Bang cans could 'pop off the shelf,' so to speak, if the packaging were only a 'mere refinement' of other drinks on the market," Altman wrote. "VPX says the Bang can's features are collectively unique; Monster says they are not. Either way, Monster's objection only highlights the importance of resolving this fact-intensive dispute at trial."

VPX has also pointed to evidence that Monster, through its internal presentations, referred to its Reign brand as a "BANG killer," and used slogans like "FUCK BANG" and "#FBang," according to Altman's ruling.

But it was bad news for VPX on the trademark front, as Altman found "every fact and (just about) every consideration weighs decisively against" the Weston company.

VPX registered its "REIGN" trademark after Monster had already launched its Reign products, according to the ruling. And though VPX argued it inherited the original owner's use of the trademark, first used in 2015, Altman found that agreement was actually invalid and canceled it.

VPX agreed to buy the trademark from Dash LLC, which used it for powdered pre-workout supplements, but Altman found their agreement didn't transfer any assets such as a formula, label, logo, customer list, equipment or consulting services.

"Indeed, as Dash's CEO would later put it, Dash had no discussions with VPX about selling anything other than 'just Reign,' the five-letter word," Altman wrote.

That means the purchase was an "assignment in gross," essentially exchanging no rights to VPX and deceiving consumers who relied on the Reign brand.

Finding that caffeine was the only remaining ingredient of the 20 Dash had used, Altman remarked that VPX "left behind any goodwill Dash had earned for its mark." Meanwhile, Dash directed its customers to a similar supplement under a new name, according to Monday's ruling.

"In fact, far from selling a substantially similar product, VPX entirely abandoned the product Dash had sold," Altman wrote. "Given these differences, consumers of VPX's Reign are left with no guarantee that they are purchasing goods of the same 'nature and quality previously associated with the mark.' "

Monster and its daughter company Reign Beverage Co. LLC have at least 12 attorneys, according to online case files, and its Miami lawyers are Sammy Epelbaum, Robert Harris and Brian Stack of Stack Fernandez & Harris. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Likewise, case files show VPX has at least 10 attorneys, including in-house counsel Matthew Davidson in Weston, Capri Trigo and Andrew Schindler of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani in Miami, and Miami Beach solo practitioner Francis Massabki.

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