A half-century ago today, one of the preeminent brands in sports drink history was first registered as a trademark in the United States. On April 30, 1968, Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. was granted U.S Registration No. 848245 for the mark GATORADE for a “fruit flavored soft drink and powder for making the same.” First developed in 1965 by a team of scientists at the University of Florida College of Medicine, the drink was originally intended for use by the Florida Gators football team to help athletes by acting as a replacement for body fluids lost during physical exertion. After several years of successful use with the Florida Gators, the drink was named “Gatorade,” and a deal was signed with Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. to market the product for wider commercial consumption. Acquired by PepsiCo in 2000, the GATORADE brand now enjoys a seventy-five percent share of the sports drink market in the United States, and the original 848245 registration remains in force.

By Fotonovela [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons.