• The Chicago Tribune, Thursday, May 1, 2008 10:30 AM

A Chicago nightclub was ordered to pay more than $500,000 in damages after people working undercover for Red Bull ordered drinks that mixed Red Bull with vodka but were served another energy drink. The judgment against the nightclub, Wet, marked the fourth time Red Bull has successfully sued bars over its trademark in the past 12 months.

"Red Bull is going after high-profile bars and trying to make examples out of them," says Brian Morgan, a senior research analyst at Euromonitor International. "Their approach is to vigorously defend their brand."

One bartender told an undercover Red Bull investigator that Red Bull was something of a generic term for energy drink: "It's like if you ask me for Kleenex and I give you a tissue." Chad Peffer, vp of sales for Red Bull North America, says the company only uses legal action as a "last resort."

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