The name and contents of the new, controversially named energy drink Cocaine have prompted Sheetz, Weis Markets and other businesses to ban the product from their shelves and sparked a lawsuit against its "immoral trademark."

The energy drink, which is manufactured by Las Vegas-based company Redux Beverages, declares Cocaine is 350 percent "greater than the Bull," likely referring to Red Bull, the leading energy drink. Redux Beverages also claims drinkers will experience no sugar-low crash after consumption.

Redux Beverages said on its Web Site, www.drinkcocaine.com, that the company didn't want to "beat around the bush," with a less intense name. The company goes on to explain that although it has chosen the name Cocaine, the makers in no way endorse the drug.

James Kirby, the co-founder of Cocaine, could not be reached for comment by press time yesterday.

A Cleveland State University law class and its professor Mickey Davis filed an opposition with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Oct. 10 against Redux Beverage's trademark request for the name "Cocaine," which was filed in March. They are representing two clients, Americans for Drug Free Youth and Progressive Intellectual Property Law Association.

The lawsuit is based on the Lanham Act, which protects against immoral trademarks, Davis said.

"My students would like to stop the registration [of Cocaine as a trademark] and see if the law applies," he said. "If anything is an immoral scandal, it has to be this stuff."

Redux Beverages has 40 days to respond, and has yet to file an answer or contact Davis, his students or the lawyers involved in the case, Davis said. Request for the Cocaine trademark was preliminarily approved by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after it was filed in March.

Some businesses in State College are skeptical of the beverage, especially those that would have the opportunity to sell and promote the drink.

"We had a lot of options we could go with and had no reason to promote a product with that kind of connotation," Bob Ferraro, head of cold drinks at Sheetz, said.

Tony Sapia, owner of Tony's Big Easy Bar and Bistro, felt that it had a "weird name" and said he would not carry the product because of its name and competition with Red Bull. "It's the name of a narcotic and is bad for business," Sapia said.

Experts in the food science field were skeptical of Cocaine's contents.

Manfred Kroger, former Penn State professor of food science, said drinking the "super-charged soft drink" is like downing three cups of coffee.

"My analysis is that it's a hyped-up product envious of Red Bull, bending over backwards to capture a market," Kroger said. He said calling it an energy drink is fallacious

"The only energy in this drink comes from two teaspoons of sugar," according to the supplement facts from the official Web site. "The caffeine and energy are mislabeled on the site," he said.

Currently, the drink is only available in New York and California, though samples are offered on its Web site and Myspace.com.