Just one more thing that irritates Grumpy Cat (or at least her owners): alleged copyright infringement.
Grumpy Cat Limited filed a federal lawsuit on Friday against California-based company Grenade Beverage LLC, accusing it of selling Grumpy Cat-branded roasted coffee without proper licensing, Courthouse News reports.
Grenade uses the domain names GrumpyCat.com and DrinkGrumpyCat.com, and in May 2013, it obtained limited rights to sell Grumppuccino, a line of iced coffee drinks featuring the cat’s image, according to the suit. Grumpy Cat Limited reportedly learned in late 2015 that Grenade was also selling roasted coffee -- something not permitted under the license agreement -- and says it refused to stop.
The suit states:
Ironically, while the world-famous feline Grumpy Cat and her valuable brand are most often invoked in a tongue-and-cheek fashion, Defendants’ despicable misconduct here has actually given Grumpy Cat and her owners something to be grumpy about.
Grumpy Cat Limited’s demands include damages for copyright and trademark infringement, a transferral of the GrumpyCat.com domain name, and a “full and accurate accounting” of Grenade’s books in order to determine how much the defendants owe.
Neither party returned a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Contact the author at Hilary.Hanson@huffingtonpost.com
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