The cat fight continues. If you are just now tuning into the maybe legal battle between Cat & Cloud and Caterpillar Inc, allow me to catch you up. Santa Cruz coffee shop Cat & Cloud states they are being sued by Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar says they arenโt suing Cat & Cloud, to which the coffee shop has responded with a resounding, โoh yes they are.โ For a more in-depth backstory, check out Sprudgeโs previous reporting on the issue here and here.
And now, at least one side is preparing for a prolonged court battle. Cat & Cloud co-founders Jared Truby and Chris Baca have created a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising $50,000 to go toward the legal defense of their trademark.
According to the GoFundMe, โ[their] little Santa Cruz, CA company with three coffee shops and 50 employees is unfortunately being taken to trial at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel our Class 25 trademark.โ Per Nolo.com, the Class 25 trademark covers โclothing, footwear, and headgear.โ
After researching other trademark litigation, Cat & Cloud believes the total cost of defending their trademark could be up to $100,000, five times higher than Truby initially estimated in their original podcast on the subject. Part of the funds raised from the GoFundMe will be used โto hire a PR firm to bring this injustice to light in the mainstream media where [they] believe it could easily go viral.โ
In the GoFundMe, they had this to say about Caterpillarโs โbully tactics:โ
We see it as a needless attack on our American Dream, as an attack on small business, and as un-American. Our PR effort hopes to bring this story to Caterpillarโs executives and board members. To Caterpillarโs employees. To Caterpillarโs competitors. And to the general public. We hope these folks can help Caterpillar see their way to being better than this.
As of publication, the Cat & Cloud GoFundMe has raised just under $6,000 of their $50,000 goal. Per the page, any funds they receive that arenโt used in mounting their defense will be given to The Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz and Lake County, Illinois as well as used to provide โequipment supportโ for farmers the coffee company works with. For more information, visit the Cat & Cloud GoFundMe page.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.
