VPX (Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc) files lawsuit vs. Gaspari Nutrition
by Anthony Roberts
A lawsuit has recently been filed by VPX (Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc) against Gaspari Nutrition, alleging trademark infringement. Over the years, VPX has been involved in a variety of lawsuits involving trademark infringement and related intellectual property claims, versus a slew of other companies (CytoSport, Bodybuilding.com, Optimum/ABB, Europa, Pharmagenx, Monster Energy Drinks, etc..), with somewhat mixed results, depending on how you look at the decisions handed down (or alternately, your personal opinion on the plaintiff versus the defendant, respectively).
Gaspari Nutrition and co. is also no stranger to the legal system, having spent more than enough money on lawyers, and related accoutrements, over the past decade.
The dispute, as near as I can tell, isn’t over product formulas or anything really interesting, but more to do with the actual labels and colors being used by VPX and Gaspari Nutrition, respectively. Amazingly, neither Ed Hardy nor Affliction have threatened to sue Gaspari for trademark infringement over their Jersey-shore inspired clothing line…
And, honestly, what about Vitamin Shoppe (*who recently stopped carrying VPX)?
In my estimation this comes at a bad time for Gaspari, who are focusing on multiple product launches and marketing campaigns simultaneously, new product formulation, as well as having recalled their Novedex product earlier this month. Still, as I’m not a lawyer, take that with a grain of salt, because I have neither A.) got any legal training, other than having been to prison nor B.) sat down and really examined the lawsuit in full.
But this brings up a very interesting point, namely that there are likely no two companies more evenly matched in their marketplace offerings than Gaspari and VPX. Both companies have recently begun a big marketing push towards their new or reformulated preworkout supplements, namely VPX Anarchy and Gaspari Nutrition Superpump Max, and both companies are two of the most notable (former prohormone sellers) who currently have neither a hormonal product in their line, nor a testosterone booster.
Gaspari recently leveled harsh criticism at Anarchy-like products (concentrated Pre-workout supplements) in a new advertising campaign which declared “Concentrates are Bullsh!t.”
These companies were already competing for your dollars outside the courtroom, now they’re competing for each other’s dollars inside of it.
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