Did the Makers of Squirt Have This Problem?

Coke is going ahead with its Surge for the Super Bowl.

Coca-Cola settled a trademark dispute Thursday with a company that uses the name Surge for a cow-milking machine, clearing the way for a Super Bowl ad blitz for a new high-calorie, high-caffeine soda with the same name.

Surge, a green-colored drink, is Coca-Cola’s answer to Pepsi’s Mountain Dew, which has become one of the nation’s hottest-selling soft drinks.

Babson Bros. said it didn’t want Surge, the name for its automatic milking machine and green-colored industrial cleaning products, to be confused with a “caffeinated, artificially colored, fully loaded soda pop.”

Babson said it has held the trademark on the Surge name since 1925. The company, based in suburban Chicago, had asked a federal judge to block Coca-Cola’s launch of its $50-million ad campaign, but the hearing was postponed while the two sides negotiated.

Coca-Cola spokeswoman Polly Hawes said there would be no changes to the company’s ads on Sunday, but she wouldn’t elaborate.

Legal analysts had suggested Coke would probably have to pay Babson to use the name rather than risk a judge blocking the ads.

Babson Chief Executive Nick Babson said the agreement affirms that Babson has no business affiliation with Coca-Cola and that the new soft drink is not affiliated with Babson’s Surge products.