In a federal suit filed Friday, the football team and National Football League Properties are accusing a pair of Springboro companies of hijacking Bengal images, logos and even the team cry, "Who dey," for use on the packaging of a beer called "Hu-Dey."

The team contends that Phoenix Beverage Inc. and Mountaintop Beverage Group have sold beer bearing the Hu-Dey name, orange and black colors, and what appears to be a cross-eyed tiger since at least Aug. 8. It says it didn't give the companies permission to use the trademarks. The suit, filed by Marcia Andrew of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, asks that the companies be banned from using the images and names.

"A more obvious violation of the Bengals club's rights could hardly be imagined, for not only are colorable imitations of certain of the Bengals' registered trademarks applied to the product's exterior, but also almost all available space for the beer's labeling has been used to point to the Bengals and professional football," states the complaint filed in federal court in Cincinnati.

A woman who answered the phone at Phoenix, which shares Mountaintop's address, had no comment on the suit. "Don't know anything about it," said the woman, who wouldn't give her name.

The suit states that Phoenix filed U.S. trademark applications last December for both "Hu Dey" and "Who Dey," both of which the Bengals oppose.

Meanwhile, Mountaintop might be brewing trouble for other NFL teams. It wants to nail down trademarks for Dawg Pound, Da' Bears, Da' Beer, Dol-Fan Beer and Steel City Sports Beer, among others.

NFL Properties, jointly owned by NFL teams for commercial purposes, says it tried, unsuccessfully, to resolve the dispute out of court.

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