Distillery Sues LIV Golf for Alleged Trademark Infringement
A Long Island-based distillery filed a lawsuit against LIV Golf in federal court on Monday, alleging that the golf league’s use of the “LIV” trademark for alcoholic beverages and apparel infringes on its trademark. Long Island Spirits Inc. sued LIV Golf in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accusing the league of violating federal and New York trademark laws. The craft distillery is asking the court to stop LIV Golf from using “LIV” in connection with the sale of alcohol or clothing and to pay punitive damages for the league’s “unfair competition and intentional and deliberate misuse of the LIV Trademarks.”The lawsuit alleges that the golf league’s use of the LIV brand has caused “widespread confusion among customers, distributors, and the decline in sales” of its craft alcohol products. The lawsuit states that LIV Golf now offers alcoholic beverages such as the LIV Clubhouse Cooler, a vodka-based cocktail with lemon, basil, and mint, and the Have a Beautiful Day cocktail, a “bright, refreshing, and slightly sweet vodka-based cocktail that echoes LIV’s blue and green colors.” Long Island Spirits has owned multiple registered and common law variations of the “LIV” trademark since 2007, according to the lawsuit.“The LIV brand is loved by consumers, but is now threatened by LIV Golf’s infringement, and LIV brings this action to protect its brand, preserve its reputation, and recover the damages it suffers every day that LIV Golf persists in its infringement,” the lawsuit says.
Lawsuit document
This is not the first time the LIV Golf League and its teams have been accused of trademark infringement. In June 2025, an Ohio-based company called Stinger Tees, Inc., filed a federal lawsuit, accusing the Stinger GC team of violating its trademark. Stinger Tees seeks $100 million in damages; the case heads to mediation on April 15. The South African golfers’ team, which includes former major championship winners Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, was renamed Southern Guards GC before this season. In June 2023, an Argentinian corporation, Cool Brands Supply, filed a federal lawsuit for trademark infringement against the LIV Golf League and its team HyFlyers GC captained by Phil Mickelson, accusing them of copying its 20-year-old logo for the popular skateboarding and lifestyle clothing brand Fallen. Cool Brands Supply withdrew its lawsuit in January 2024.“Since its launch in 2021, LIV Golf has deployed billions of dollars in marketing efforts aimed at buying prominence, including expanding into alcohol and clothing under the ‘LIV’ brand, that is, precisely the areas in which LIV holds long-standing brands and where it has built its reputation for authenticity,” says the lawsuit. “This escalating infringement campaign benefits LIV Golf while wasting LIV’s goodwill and leading to substantial consumer confusion.”
Lawsuit document
