It didn't take long to get a reply from Body Armor founder Lance Collins on some of the allegations in at trademark infringement suit filed against Body Armor by the folks at the athletic clothing company Under Armour, which we wrote about on Friday. Note that Collins, who is an attorney, has been extremely nimble in the realm of beverage trademarks and rather outspoken on the topic when it comes to giving advice to future beverage entrepreneurs.

While we haven't been able to reach out to founder Lance Collins about the trademark infringement lawsuit filed against him and his new brand, Body Armor, by well-established athletic clothing brand Under Armour, the suit itself does offer some awesome insight into brand building itself.

Monday's speculation that the Coca-Cola Co., Inc., was possibly taking a swing at acquiring Monster Energy sent the New York Post off in search of further energy drink company speculation. What it came away with was something else entirely, however -- an analysis that both Monster and its fierce competitor, Rockstar, might be too racy to be purchased by any of the big beverage companies.

Pepsi's half-billion advertising push should take about two years to work, according to an article in the Financial Times. If it does, according to CEO Indra Nooyi, the company will be as well known for the "total liquid refreshment market" instead of the CSD competition known known colloquially as the "cola wars."

Cott shares beat both Wall Street's and investment bank Morgan Stanley's quarterly earnings forecast yesterday by a wide margin on better than expected gross margins. The private-label soft drink maker also announced a $35 million share repurchase program over the next year.

They managed to hold it off last year -- partially due to an impassioned plea from resident and longtime beverage entrepreneur Tom First -- but that quirky town of Concord, Mass., finally passed a ban on the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles at its Town Meeting last night.

Phoenix-based beverage incubator Shadow Beverages has launched drinks co-developed with retailer GNC into its stores in Nevada and Arizona. The line has 14 different SKUs, ranging from sports nutrition and enhanced waters to protein drinks.

Web Site The Daily Meal has chosen Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as the "Most Powerful Person in Drink," presumably because without Starbucks such a list wouldn't have gotten written at The Daily Meal. We, of course, are disappointed that they forgot US... but if that doesn't extinguish your burning desire to look at it, here's the list.

Labeling changes are on tap for leading coconut water brand Vita Coco, which is conducting a line refresh that will migrate across the country throughout the summer.

PepsiCo tipped its hand on its innovation plans today, advertising for a position on a still-forming team designed to work with emerging beverages out of its Naked Juice offices near Los Angeles. The Beverage Growth Ventures team will be led by Chris Lansing, the General Manager of its Naked Juice and Izze division, BevNET has learned. Naked/Izze operates as a separate, West Coast entity, although it is owned by PepsiCo.

Today Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog released research derived from a poll of beverage retailers.The survey represents “tens of thousands of convenience store locations across the country” and offers some interesting insights into the overall performance of many individual beverage categories.

Had to squeeze one last headline out of that one. Neuro, which has finally been spotted in the Boston area, has softened the brand messaging on one of its more memorable SKUs.