Honey Deuce: The Perfect Blend of Cocktail Craft and Trademark Law
Written by Luanne C. Schlosser
What’s more deafening than the suspenseful silence of a tiebreaker? The ear-splitting screech of tennis sneakers on a hard court. The sound is a sonic explosion that could make nails on a chalkboard sound like a lullaby.
For that reason, when it comes to tennis, I am more of a clay and grass kind of gal.
Clay courts are like the Broadway of tennis surface: there’s drama, there’s suspense, and, occasionally, there’s a bit of mud-splattered glamour. Grass, on the other hand, is the James Bond of tennis surfaces: suave, sophisticated, and just a little bit unpredictable. The lush, verdant expanse of a grass court is like the VIP lounge of the tennis world, where the ball behaves with the whimsy of a cat in a sunbeam.
Also, no sneaker noises on either.
In declaring my predilection for court surface type, I’ve assured my husband that it has nothing to do with the fact that clay courts in the ATP are in such destinations as Paris, Monte Carlo and Rome, and Wimbledon for grass, of course.
Further, let’s not be mistaken, my preference of court surface has nothing to do with my own athletic experience. I don’t play tennis. Instead, court surface is all about the spectator’s experience.
I attended my first ATP match in Rome this past spring. While I will never be a professional tennis player, I can say that I have the makings to be a professional tennis consumer.
Everything about tennis at the professional level was intriguing, but what gripped me the most was the experience of being at the open-air opera of the Foro Italico, sipping Aperol Spritz and eating pizza and pasta between matches. The mix of historic grandeur and modern sophistication created an ambience where even a simple changeover was accompanied by flirtatious banter, making it feel like a scene from a classic Italian film. Also, there was Stefanos Tsitsipas.
After Rome, I was hooked on tennis, knowing that my next experience would probably be sooner than I had expected, perhaps even the US Open end of August.
Sadly, we did not make it to the US Open. The timing was not right (and I have yet to get over the sound of sneakers on hard court). Yet, despite the cacophony, I secretly ate up the experience of the US Open by watching it on my phone. The fashion, the celebrities – the grandeur of it all – I had to get back to being a professional consumer. And, just when I thought I was sufficiently satisfied, the cocktail hero of the US Open came across my radar.
Enter the Honey Deuce™. It's the official drink of the US Open, blending perfectly with the tennis tournament’s spirit of sophisticated indulgence.
I’ve yet to try the official iconic libation, but my husband has learnt how to make it at home. If you’ve ever sipped on a Honey Deuce cocktail, you know it’s not just a drink: it’s a summer sensation with a name that sticks to your memory like honey to a bee. Served in its signature style, this refreshing concoction is a mix of Grey Goose® vodka, premium raspberry liqueur (Chambord®), fresh lemonade, and honeydew melon balls carved to look like tennis balls. With roughly 450,000 of the neon cocktails sold at the 2023 U.S. Open, according to CBS News, sales came in at just under $10 million. This year the cocktail increased in price by $1.00 and so sales during the 2024 U.S. Open no doubt smashed records.
But behind this cocktail’s honeyed exterior, a legal dispute may be in the mix.
While the Honey Deuce emerged at the US Open 18 years ago, only this year did the United States Tennis Association Incorporated (the “USTA”) file for trademark protection for the signature drink. That filing occurred on March 4, 2024, where the subject application is still in its application phase. It appears that the USTA finally understood that to prevent imitator bees from swarming around their brand hive, they needed to secure trademark protection. After all, no one wants to see their signature cocktail duplicated at a rival event, or worse, at some place like “Harry’s Banana Farm” — a “rootin’, tootin’, shootin’” dive bar beside the Interstate on the way to (but definitely not in) West Palm Beach.
Assuming the trademark for the sweet libation registers, it would prevent anyone else from selling an alcoholic beverage under that name unless they were authorized to do so under licence. This presents another potential income stream aside from sales at the US Open where, once registered, the USTA could theoretically charge other establishments a fee to license the trademark for use in association with the iconic cocktail. In the absence of such licence, no one can use the trademark for alcoholic beverages.
There’s more sting to this story though.
On September 3, 2024, Quarterback Funding, Inc., applied for a trademark for “HONEY DEUCE” in relation to beer. While cocktails and beer fall within different classes of goods and services, they are both alcoholic beverages and so we may be in for some off-court drama.
Additionally, while the USTA applied for a trademark for “HONEY DEUCE”, the drink is often referred to as the “GREY GOOSE® HONEY DEUCE™,” where the panache of the cocktail is likely tied to the famous vodka. Presumably, the owners of the Grey Goose® vodka trademark (Bacardi & Company Limited) and the USTA have a licensing agreement in place, but still the question burns of “What then if the USTA has a fallout with longstanding sponsor Grey Goose?”
So, next time you enjoy a Honey Deuce™ cocktail, remember that you’re sipping on more than just a refreshing drink. Subject to what unfolds on the trademark hard court, you’re potentially partaking in a legally protected piece of cocktail culture — a somewhat rare blend of legal savvy and summer elegance. Cheers to that!