LI craft distillery sues Saudi LIV Golf arm over alleged brand infringement

A Long Island craft distillery is taking on Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf league in a federal copyright suit that accuses the overseas investment fund’s sports arm of infringing on its LiV brand.

Baiting Hollow-based Long Island Spirits markets a LiV brand of vodka and other spirits and is owner of the LIV brand, according to the federal suit filed in Central Islip on Monday, which also accuses the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s LIV Golf of unfair competition. It registered the LIV brand in 2007. It bills itself as Long Island’s first distillery since the 1800s and touts Long Island potatoes used in making its vodka.

The suit notes that since LIV Golf was established in 2021, it has used the brand to market a variety of products, with alleged plans to branch into alcoholic beverages. “LIV Golf has deployed billions of dollars in marketing efforts aimed at buying prominence, including by expanding into ‘LIV’ branded alcohol and apparel — that is, precisely the areas in which LIV owns long-standing marks and where it has built its reputation for authenticity,” the Long Island distiller said in its suit.

“This escalating campaign of infringement benefits LIV Golf while squandering LIV’s goodwill and leading to substantial consumer confusion,” the suit alleged. “That confusion is likely to increase in the near future, as LIV Golf’s executives have recently touted their intentions to expand the sales of LIV-branded apparel and alcoholic beverages, including a vodka-based cocktail it calls the 'LiV Clubhouse Cooler.'”

In its lawsuit and on its website, Long Island Spirits lists its brand as both LIV and LiV, the latter used primarily in conjunction with specific product brand labels.

The Baiting Hollow company said it has built a “national reputation based on its authentic dedication to distilling world-class vodka using Long Island potatoes and other local crops.” The LIV brand was originally registered for its flagship Long Island Vodka, but has branched out to include “an array of LiV-branded vodka, gin and other alcohols, as well as with branded apparel” that’s sold at its flagship distillery, local events and online.

The Long Island distiller also makes Sorbetta liqueurs using LiV vodka and local fruits, “LiV Standard Vodka made from Long Island corn, LiV Gin, multiple craft whiskeys, and LiV Canned Cocktails,” which are “ready-to-drink vodka cocktails.” It also makes “Rough Rider” branded whiskeys. The company works with a national distributor to sell its productions nationwide.

“The LIV brand is beloved by consumers but is now threatened by … LIV Golf’s infringement,” the suit claims, saying it aims to “recover damages for the damages it suffers each day that LIV Golf persists in its infringement.” A dollar amount wasn’t specified.

The suit alleges “wide-spread confusion amongst consumers, distributors and others across the country” and that LIV Golf is “swamping LIV’s brand recognition, eroding its goodwill and depressing the sales of LIV-branded products.”

A spokesman for LIV Golf didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

Most of the products on the LIV Golf website are apparel such as hats, golf shirts, T-shirts, sweaters and hoodies. There’s also a line of mugs, glasses and pin flags. A search for vodka on the website turned up three non-LIV-branded shot glasses.

Christman Rice, an attorney for Long Island Spirits, said while the infringement began with the launch of LIV Golf in 2021, the pace of infringement, including with LiV-branded cocktails, “has really picked up in the last year.” It includes menus at golfing events touting the LIV-branded drinks, including LIV Clubhouse Cooler and LIV It Up Bloody Mary.

He said customers at the Baiting Hollow distillery have inquired about a possible connection, and there are “distributors sort of making jokes about it. It’s undermining the brand.”

The suit seeks to stop LIV Golf from using the brand and unspecified financial damages.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.