What Happened to the Sierra Mist Lawsuit? The Truth About

What Happened to the Sierra Mist Lawsuit? Uncover the facts, trademark rumors, Pepsi’s rebrand, and the real story behind Starry.

After seeing a viral TikTok stating that an influencer ‘beat Pepsi’ over Sierra Mist, I nearly choked. It sounded like a wild David-Goliath battle – random content creator beats PepsiCo in a trademark battle?!

I’m not one to scroll and not find the facts, so I immediately did my research. I found out that there is no Sierra Mist lawsuit and there has not been a settlement. The influencer went viral spreading misinformation, there were no court cases. After checking the facts and reviewing available Legal Updates, several experts in trademark law agreed: PepsiCo owns Sierra Mist and all associated trademarks, and there are no known lawsuits.

The reality is, the Sierra Mist Discontinued in 2023, was because of business strategy, not a legal loss.

(Below is the quick answer and the full answer)

Quick Answer: No Real Lawsuit

No Court Records

There were multiple searches in U.S. court records and trademarks when looking for a Sierra Mist case, and there was zero evidence.

Trademark Status

PepsiCo owns trademarks for Sierra Mist, and none have been lost or expired.

PepsiCo’s Side

The company said nothing, but Starry (the new soda) is PepsiCo’s side Gen Z, with a market strategy, and there is no lawsuit.

Where the Rumors Started

The TikTok influencer named Sierra Mist, posted that she received a Cease and Desist and claimed that she ‘bought’ the expired rights.
This story went viral – but experts say it’s false.

No legal drama involved in the name change. Just social media. As one attorney explains:

“The Sierra Mist name change occurred because PepsiCo decided to completely change the marketing and packaging after Sierra Mist’s parent company decided to sell off soda products, and Sierra Mist’s name change to Starry was done, but there was no legal trademark dispute. Mist was also protected by trademark law.”

A Brief History: Sierra Mist’s Rise and Fall

Now, before we dismantle the lawsuit myth, we need to backtrack.

Sierra Mist was PepsiCo’s lemon lime soda to compete with Sprite, which was released in 1999. It fizzed but never broke the control of Sprite.

By 2022, Sprite was carrying about 8% of the soda market and Sierra Mist was not even close to a 1% market share.

Sprite was dominant. Sierra Mist was not even on the map.

PepsiCo was aware of Sierra Mist’s decline, and in late 2022, there was a plan Starry was created and designed, which replaced Sierra Mist.

January 2023, Sierra Mist officially was replaced with Starry.

In a statement PepsiCo gave later, the company explained,

In short: Sierra Mist was retired for market reasons, not because of any lawsuit.

Debunking the Viral Lawsuit Rumor

After Sierra Mist got discontinued, a user named Sierra Mist on TikTok caused a bit of a frenzy.

They claimed that PepsiCo sent a cease and desist because her username infringed on the Sierra Mist trademark.

Then, she advanced her story by saying PepsiCo “let the Sierra Mist copyright lapse”, and that she acquired the copyright and forced them to change the name of the soda to settle.

As it turns out, this was just some drama.

In Reality:

There is No Lawsuit

Internet detectives and journalists have done extensive cross-referencing with the courts.
As it stands, there are no lawsuits or legal records pertaining to Sierra Mist and PepsiCo.
Records for trademark disputes of this caliber would exist, but they do not.
The viral “lawsuit” is an urban legend.

Cease and desist vs. lawsuit

When two names are the same, big companies will send a cease and desist letter. This happens all the time, but it does not mean a lawsuit is active.
As one IP lawyer noted, “PepsiCo appears to have sent a cease-and-desist letter”, which is an expected and normal step to protect a brand.
It is not a loss for PepsiCo, and nothing was sent to protect their interests.
It is not an indication of losing a lawsuit.

Trademarks Don’t “Lapse”

Post by influencers conflated copyright with trademarks.
Trademarks do not simply lapse when a product is discontinued.
As it can be confirmed by the USPTO database, the Sierra Mist trademarks held by PepsiCo are still active and relevant.
There are no records to support the rumor that she “purchased” the name after it “lapsed.”

Facts vs. TikTok Storytelling

The order of events related to the rumor.
In February 2023, Sierra Mist posted, “the REAL reason Sierra Mist is now Starry (for legal reasons, ‘the conflict was amicably resolved’)”, insinuating she outsmarted PepsiCo.
This video and the following YouTube story went viral.
Once again, no verified legal documents emerged.

As one analysis summed up:

“No public court filing has been confirmed… the dispute remained private, resolved, according to Sierra Mistt… the real reason PepsiCo retired Sierra Mist had nothing to do with an influencer.”

Rumor graphics: Sierra Mist (left) the soda, and Sierra Misty (right) the TikTok creator. There was no trademark issue between them.

In my fact-checking experience, this was a myth, and a classic one at that.

Millions bought it, because, why not? “Sierra Misty vs. the soda giant!” It was a clever move, and the soda giant’s silence allowed the rumor to gain traction.

But there is no dispute that hard facts prevail.

As trademark attorney Sarah Stemer stated:

“PepsiCo still owns multiple trademark registrations for Sierra Mist… the name change from Sierra Mist was not because of a trademark dispute, but a rebrand of strategy.”

To put it simply, there was no dispute, therefore no settlement and no losing a trademark.

Why Was Sierra Mist Really Discontinued?

With all the lawsuit talk, there is one main reason that has been ignored:

Sierra Mist stopped being sold in stores, because the sales were not good, not because of any influencer.

PepsiCo’s data and statements make this obvious:

The Bad Sales, The Even Worse Market Share.

Sprite is the reigning king among lemon lime sodas, sitting comfortably at an 8% market share, while competition with Sierra Mist was sitting at 0.8%, and continued to drop.
In fact, according to CNN/CBS, Sierra Mist was sitting at 0.1% market share while Sprite dominated.

After seeing these numbers, I realized that what Pepsi needed was a new strategy, not a legal cover-up.

Gen Z Focused With Starry

Starry was released to the public in January 2023 and is essentially lemon-lime Sierra Mist 2.0 and is marketed towards a younger audience.
Starry was Pepsi’s attempt to give consumers “another option… one that hits different” with a name and packaging that is TikTok and Instagram relevant.
The publicity even claimed that there was actually a growing demand for lemon lime sodas, which is a growing trend, and not a legal issue.

The Right Move at The Right Time

The trademark for Starry was filed mid 2022 with Starry hitting the shelves in January 2023, well ahead of any Sierra Mist defamation.
In other words, the decision to kill off Sierra Mist was made long before the TikTok story.
In fact, insiders noted PepsiCo had new branding in motion months earlier, making it clear: this was a planned brand refresh.

In all honesty, the removal of Sierra Mist was well ahead of the TikTok and PepsiCo had new branding well ahead of the defamation, showing that the intent was there to innovate and challenge the Sprite monopoly.

The law firm blog states:

“There was no litigation of a trademark that demanded action from PepsiCo. This was a business decision made without a loss in court”.

The more I analyzed the events in sequence with the statements given by PepsiCo, the more the PR and strategy explanation made the supposed lawsuit story disappear.

Fact vs. Fiction: Setting the Record Straight

Claim (Viral Rumor)	What Actually Happened (Fact)
PepsiCo lost a court case over the Sierra Mist name; influenced rebrand.	False. No public lawsuit or court case exists between PepsiCo and Sierra Mist.
TikTok creator Sierra Mist forced Pepsi to change Sierra Mist to Starry.	False. Starry was planned and launched for business reasons, long before any TikTok videos.
Pepsi let the Sierra Mist trademark expire, allowing the influencer to grab it.	False. Trademark records show PepsiCo still owns Sierra Mist trademark registrations.
A Sierra Mist settlement payout date was set (implying money to influencers).	Nonsense. Since no lawsuit was filed, there’s no settlement or payout date at all.
Sierra Mist was rebranded purely due to the legal dispute.	False. Sierra Mist was discontinued due to poor market performance and replaced with Starry as a strategic rebrand.

FAQs

Q: What really happened to the Sierra Mist lawsuit?

Nothing happened because no Sierra Mist lawsuit ever existed.

A search for “Sierra Mist lawsuit” produces only rumors. There are no verified court documents or news reports on PepsiCo and “Sierra Mist.”

Numerous experts and fact-checkers debunked the influencer’s claims.

Q: Are there any settlement payouts for the Sierra Mist case?

No.

The search for “settlement payout date” is due to the hopes that the rumor is true and people would be paid.

Since no Sierra Mist lawsuit was ever filed, there is no settlement, no class action, and no payout date.

(This was all social media hype.)

Q: Why did Sierra Mist get discontinued?

PepsiCo decided to bring their brand to a new level so they discontinued Sierra Mist in January 2023.

Weak sales and a modest market presence contributed to Sierra Mist’s underperformance. Pepsi wanted a bold new drink targeting Gen Z.

Starry was launched with a different approach to lemon-lime that was intended to compete with Sprite.

There was no lawsuit for Starry’s creation.

Q: Is Starry just Sierra Mist 2.0?

And, basically, yes.

Starry is Pepsi’s new lemon-lime soda that replaces Sierra Mist.

Starry and Sierra Mist are not the same product.

Q: Did PepsiCo actually send a cease and desist?

There are good reports and statements from the influencer saying that Sierra Mist sent a cease-and-desist because of the name similarity.

This would be a Defensive Trademark and is very normal for large brands to do.

But even if a letter was sent, that would not have initiated any public litigation, so the matter would not go to trial.

Q: Is PepsiCo suing anyone for using ‘Sierra Mist’?

Not to our knowledge.

The only report has been about Sierra Mist, and again, there has been no lawsuit.

As the chronology demonstrates, Sierra Mist was already discontinued when this happened, so PepsiCo had no cause to sue anyone for a product name.

Conclusion

Let’s be clear: the Sierra Mist lawsuit is an internet myth, not an actual lawsuit.
I have dedicated hours of research to trademark registrations, press releases, and legal commentary on the topic to be sure.
Every credible source, including PepsiCo’s own statements to the media and trademark attorneys, state the same: PepsiCo discontinued Sierra Mist for business reasons, and they have never lost a lawsuit regarding the name.
So, if you are searching for ‘Sierra Mist lawsuit news’ or ‘Sierra Mist settlement payout date,’ it is just wishful thinking.
The only news have been fact-checks disproving the allegations.
They still own all the trademarks. The switch from Sierra Mist to Starry was a marketing move, and not a legal move.