CHICAGO — Despite a ruling last July by a Chicago judge that barred Playboy from terminating its energy drink licensing agreement with CirTran Corporation, Playboy is vowing to continue the fight.
BeverageDaily.com reported that when inquiring about the status of the dispute Playboy said that PlayBev and CirTran are …”illegitimately conducting the Playboy energy drink business and unlawfully making money off of the brand.”
A Playboy spokesperson said, “Playboy intends to pursue this matter vigorously aganst them and others, such as Pure NRG fx, that have not been authorized by Playboy to distribute or promote Playboy energy drink.”
Last May a federal judge decided that the iconic Playboy bunny trademark would remain on CirTran Corporation’s Playboy Energy Drink despite Playboy’s objections. That decision marked the fourth win for the beverage companies in four legal battles, but even at that time Playboy said it would not go away easy.
Playboy told XBIZ via email, “The ruling indicates that Playboy Enterprises can continue to pursue Play Beverages, CirTran Beverage Corporation and CirTran Corporation to shut down their misuse of Playboy’s intellectual property. It preserves all of Playboy’s positions that PlayBev and CirTran are engaging in infringement including that “Play Bev, however, failed to the make the $2 million payment required to make the [license] agreement effective.”
“Playboy looks forward to pursuing and demonstrating that PlayBev, CirTran and their principals are unauthorized in conducting the Playboy energy drink business and in unlawfully making money from the Playboy brand."
The Playboy-branded drink reportedly accounted for 98 percent of CirTran’s 2013 second quarter sales.
Iehab J. Hawatmeh, CirTran’s founder, chairman and president lauded the company’s hard work in marketing and distributing the Playboy Energy Drink and said that the legal battles over the last six months have proven to be very satisfying for management and shareholders alike.