Champion Athleticwear has settled its complaint against ChampionLyte Holdings, Inc. and signed a licensing agreement with the company, allowing it to continue to use the Champion name on its sugar-free entry in the isotonic sports drink category.
“Because of Champion's strong heritage in the sports category, we knew consumers would assume that ChampionLyte was part of our portfolio,” said Bob Hall, president and CEO of Champion Athleticwear. “The Champion brand dates back to 1919, and we are very protective of the quality image that we have built in the Champion brand. In the process of resolving the trademark dispute, we concluded that the quality of ChampionLyte would meet our standards and agreed to license our name.”
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
David Goldberg, president of ChampionLyte Holdings, Inc. said the company is extremely pleased with the resolution. “We believe that this is an equitable resolution that benefits both companies,” said Goldberg. “We have redesigned the ChampionLyte label to acknowledge ownership of the trademark and will now turn our focus on expanding the distribution of ChampionLyte, the first completely sugar-free entry in the isotonic sports drink market.”
