LIV Golf sued by vodka brand over trademark dispute

Long Island Spirits has filed a lawsuit against the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league over alleged trademark infringement at the federal court in Central Islip, New York. The U.S.-based company, which makes LiV Vodka, is seeking to halt LIV Golf’s alleged misappropriation and infringement of its trademarks.

LIV Golf Accused of Blatant Trademark Infringements

Long Island Spirits, founded in 2007, produces liqueurs, whiskey, gin, RTDs, and its flagship LiV-branded vodka, using local ingredients like potatoes, corn, and rye sourced from the North Fork of Long Island.

Two-time Open Champion and former World No. 1 Greg Norman founded LIV Golf in 2021, with funding from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). The league derives its name from the Roman numeral 54, representing the number of holes originally played in its tournaments before expanding the format to 72 holes for the 2026 season in an attempt to meet Official World Golf Ranking requirements for points.

In the lawsuit, the distillery accused LIV Golf of blatantly infringing on its trademarks. The company said it had been using “LIV” and “LiV” marks since registering them in 2007 and that its LiV-branded products are its largest and most important offerings.

Long Island Spirits claims its LiV-branded products are its largest and most important brands and alleges that LIV Golf has infringed on them by promoting its own line of LIV-branded products closely tied to the league’s apparel and live events. The company says LIV Golf has further infringed by making and marketing LIV-branded cocktails such as the LIV Clubhouse Cooler, LIV Transfusion Cocktail, and LIV It Up Bloody Mary.

Long Island Spirits keen to protect consumer from confusion

Long Island Spirits accused LIV Golf of deploying billions of dollars in marketing efforts aimed at “buying prominence, including by expanding into ‘LIV’ branded alcohol and apparel.” The company added that those are the exact areas in which LIV owns long-standing marks. Long Island Spirits also claimed that LIV Golf’s LIV-branded apparels has created confusion with it’s own line of LIV-branded apparels.

“Distributors, retailers, hospitality partners, and consumers have already experienced actual confusion about whether the LiV brand is affiliated with LIV Golf,” the company said in the suit. “Consumers’ mistaken belief that LIV is in league with a highly controversial and heavily commercialized venture ‌backed ⁠by an immense foreign sovereign wealth fund is antithetical to the authentic, pioneering, craft spirit LiV brand that LIV we have worked hard to build.”

The Baiting Hollow–based company is seeking a court order to block LIV Golf from using “LIV” in connection with alcohol or apparel sales, as well as compensatory and injunctive relief over what it calls “willful and intentional trademark misuse and unfair competition.”