- By August, Dewdrop had given in to all of Pepsi’s demands, abandoning trademark filings and changing its name to Droplet to avoid further harassment and legal fees.
- Perez said they pursued all these changes despite the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) saying Dewdrop would not be in conflict with Mtn Dew.
- Droplet thought everything had been settled until February of this year when a Pepsi employee sampled their product as a way of “supporting small businesses.”
- To Perez and her team’s horror, Pepsi released its latest drink called Soulboost last week, which allegedly resembled their own product.
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- For one, the text in Soulboost’s marketing posts and Dewdrop’s original logo apparently use the same typeface.
- Perez noticed similarities between Soulboost’s press release and a Droplet feature story, as well as in both products’ websites and actual cans.
- “It felt like they watched all our pitches, read all of our interviews, studied our website and took notes,” Perez wrote in her Instagram exposé.
- Perez also felt that Soulboost used Droplet’s product guide for its social media voice, having used the phrase “look good, feel good” in one of its posts.
- According to the company, Soulboost has been “a labor of love” from its Innovation team for two years.
- Pepsi said that it filed to register the trademark in summer 2019 and subsequently completed both product and design, which was “original, existing artwork we licensed from an independent artist.”
- The beverage giant claimed that there is “simply no merit” to any claims of inspiration because Soulboost was “built on consumer insights and the accelerating trend of functional products.”
- The company confirmed that it took action against the Mtw Dew trademark infringement but pointed out that protecting the brand and creating Soulboost are occurrences that “live completely independently.”