MP Acquisition sues Combat Candies over COMBAT CANDY supplements

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1, filed October 23, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The case is MP Acquisition Corp. v. Combat Candies, Inc., No. 8:26-cv-00648, assigned to Chief Judge Brian C. Buescher, with Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson. It pleads six counts: federal trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1); unfair competition and false designation of origin under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); violation of the Nebraska Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act; violation of the Nebraska Consumer Protection Act; common law trademark infringement and unfair competition; and a declaratory judgment that Combat Candies' pending application should not register. MP demands a jury trial in Omaha. Counsel is Brian T. McKernan, Alexander K. Shaner, and Adam P. Smith of McGrath North Mullin & Kratz, PC LLO. The complaint runs 17 pages plus a seven-page Exhibit A of registration certificates.

The marks

MP, a Nevada corporation based in Omaha, asserts seven Principal Register registrations in Class 5 for dietary and nutritional supplements: COMBAT 100% WHEY, Reg. No. 6,072,063; COMBAT CRUNCH, Reg. No. 7,513,207; COMBAT, Reg. No. 7,513,241; COMBAT 100% ISOLATE, Reg. No. 7,520,099; COMBAT POWDER, Reg. No. 7,520,123; COMBAT PROTEIN POWDER, Reg. No. 7,605,359; COMBAT SPORT BAR, Reg. No. 7,788,600. It alleges that MusclePharm Corporation assigned the marks and their goodwill to MP in or around November 2023, and that MP and its predecessor have used the COMBAT brand since at least November 12, 2008. USPTO records list MP Acquisition Corp. as owner of all seven registrations, show each as live and registered, and record an ownership update to MP on November 8, 2023. Reg. No. 6,072,063 issued to MusclePharm Corporation on June 9, 2020, and the USPTO accepted a combined Sections 8 and 15 declaration for it on October 11, 2025. The other six registered between September 24, 2024 and May 6, 2025, from applications filed in October 2023. Each registration other than COMBAT disclaims the wording that follows COMBAT, such as "100% WHEY," "CRUNCH," or "SPORT BAR."

What the complaint alleges

The complaint describes Combat Candies, on information and belief, as a Delaware corporation based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and says it sells nutritional supplements under COMBAT CANDY through its website and online retail channels, including to Nebraska consumers. It points to Combat Candies' Application Serial No. 99/166,613, filed May 1, 2025 for "Nutritional supplements" in Class 5, which claims first use on May 5, 2024 and first use in commerce on May 24, 2024, and in which the applicant disclaimed CANDY. MP alleges that COMBAT is the dominant element of the applied-for mark and that the goods are identical or closely related, and it alleges, on information and belief, that the goods move through the same or overlapping channels to the same or overlapping consumers. It says Combat Candies had constructive notice through the registrations and actual notice through a cease-and-desist letter sent on or about March 23, 2026, which went unanswered by its March 30 deadline, and it alleges, on information and belief, that Combat Candies has continued with full knowledge of MP's rights.

USPTO records show the application was published for opposition on March 31, 2026. MP filed Opposition No. 91307040 against it at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on April 30, 2026, which the complaint says rests on priority and likelihood of confusion under Section 2(d). Combat Candies filed an answer there on June 30, 2026, and the opposition is pending. MP alleges the infringement is willful and the case exceptional under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), and Count II says the case is exceptional "and/or a case of intentional counterfeiting under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(b)."

Relief requested

MP asks the court to find that Combat Candies violated the Lanham Act and Nebraska law; to declare under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051, 1052, 1063, and 1127 that the application should not register; to enter preliminary and permanent injunctions barring use of COMBAT CANDY or any designation incorporating COMBAT, and barring applications to register any mark consisting of or incorporating COMBAT; and to order Combat Candies to abandon, or consent to refusal of, Application Serial No. 99/166,613. It also asks for destruction of materials under 15 U.S.C. § 1118; a sworn compliance report under 15 U.S.C. § 1116(a); actual damages, Combat Candies' profits, and an accounting; up to three times actual damages and enhanced profits under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a); actual and enhanced damages under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 59-1609; an exceptional-case finding with attorneys' fees and costs under § 1117(a), Neb. Rev. Stat. § 87-303, and § 59-1609; and pre- and post-judgment interest.