{"id":382,"date":"2018-01-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/2018\/01\/26\/710000-jury-award-gives-grumpy-cat-reason-smile\/"},"modified":"2022-12-20T07:12:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T07:12:19","slug":"710000-jury-award-gives-grumpy-cat-reason-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademark-infringement\/710000-jury-award-gives-grumpy-cat-reason-smile\/","title":{"rendered":"$710,000 Jury Award Gives Grumpy Cat a Reason to Smile"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Grumpy Cat Limited v. Grenade Beverage, LLC, et al.<\/em>, a California jury verdict<\/a> gave Grumpy Cat Limited (\u201cGrumpy Cat\u201d) $710,000 in damages earlier this week.\u00a0 The jury awarded $480,000 for Grumpy Cat\u2019s trademark infringement claim, $230,000 for its copyright infringement claim, and $1 for its breach of contract claim.<\/p>\n

Along with several copyrights in photographs and images of the crotchety feline, Grumpy Cat owns common law and trademark rights to the GRUMPY CAT word mark (Reg. No. 4,527, 097) and the design mark\u00a0(Reg. No. 4,820,434) for a variety of goods and services, such as coffee and tea, mugs, clothing, and website services.\u00a0 Grumpy Cat sued Grenade Beverage, LLC, and its co-founders for its unauthorized use of Grumpy Cat on products other than iced coffee beverages.\u00a0 In 2013, the parties entered into a license agreement that granted limited rights to use Grumpy Cat\u2019s image and name in connection with the advertisement, distribution, and sale of \u201ca line of Grumpy Cat-branded coffee products.\u201d\u00a0 Grumpy Cat asserted that the intent of the license agreement was to permit Grenade Beverage to produce and distribute a line of \u201cGrumpy Cat\u201d branded iced-coffee beverages called \u201cGrumpy Cat Grumppuccino.\u201d\u00a0 Grumpy Cat also argued that any additional product offerings required further negotiations and approval by Grumpy Cat under the terms of the license agreement.<\/p>\n

At the end of 2015, Grenade Beverage sought permission to produce and distribute a \u201cGrumpy Cat Roasted Coffee\u201d product:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Grumpy Cat did not approve this proposed use but defendants proceeded anyway, selling the roasted coffee products and t-shirts without Grumpy Cat\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n

The jury agreed with Grumpy Cat.\u00a0 The court instructed the jury that it could award damages of up to $2 million for trademark infringement and $600,000 for copyright infringement (a total exposure of $2,600,000), and the jury ultimately awarded Grumpy Cat a \u201cmodest\u201d $710,000.\u00a0 Meowch!<\/p>\n

The jury also disregarded Grenade Beverage\u2019s counterclaims that Grumpy Cat made false representations about the famous feline\u2019s future publicity plans and the company\u2019s efforts to promote the coffee brand.\u00a0 It found in favor of Grumpy Cat and against Grenade Beverage\u2019s counterclaims for breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional misrepresentation, and negligent misrepresentation.<\/p>\n

This case provides a furry reminder of the importance to adhering to the terms of a license agreement, especially one that requires further negotiations and authorized consent for future use of the intellectual property assets.\u00a0 Where there is lack of clarity on whether permission was granted, or the scope of permitted use, ask for clarity.\u00a0 And when permission is not given, don\u2019t proceed.\u00a0 The alternative may be too costly.<\/p>\n

Interested in learning how to effectively negotiate your license agreements regarding your valuable intellectual property assets or the use of such assets?\u00a0 Please contact Danielle DeFilippis<\/a> at dmdefilippis@norris-law.com<\/a> or Jeanne Hamburg<\/a> at jhamburg@norris-law.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Grumpy Cat Limited v. Grenade Beverage, LLC, et al., a California jury verdict gave Grumpy Cat Limited (\u201cGrumpy Cat\u201d) $710,000 in damages earlier this week.\u00a0 The jury awarded $480,000 for Grumpy Cat\u2019s trademark infringement claim, $230,000 for its copyright infringement claim, and $1 for its breach of contract claim. Along with several copyrights in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[277,292,293,288,289,290,294],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n$710,000 Jury Award Gives Grumpy Cat a Reason to Smile - More Than Your Mark\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademark-infringement\/710000-jury-award-gives-grumpy-cat-reason-smile\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$710,000 Jury Award Gives Grumpy Cat a Reason to Smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Grumpy Cat Limited v. Grenade Beverage, LLC, et al., a California jury verdict gave Grumpy Cat Limited (\u201cGrumpy Cat\u201d) $710,000 in damages earlier this week.\u00a0 The jury awarded $480,000 for Grumpy Cat\u2019s trademark infringement claim, $230,000 for its copyright infringement claim, and $1 for its breach of contract claim. 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