WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Tulsa park, Shawnee coffee shop in trademark fuss
“It is hard to think that someone would actually be confused between a worldrenowned outdoor play space and a small local coffee shop located an hour and a half apart.” Coffee shop owners, in a Facebook post
They are located in Oklahoma, somewhat share a name and are both dog friendly.
It’s the name similarity that has a Shawnee coffee shop in a legal dispute with an award-winning Tulsa riverfront park.
Tulsa’s Gathering Place LLC is suing the owners of The Gathering Place Coffee Co. in Shawnee.
“Defendant knowingly adopted and knowingly uses the name THE GATHERING PLACE in bad faith, intending to play on and capture the good will of TGP and attempting to use TGP’s fame to gain recognition,” attorneys for the park
alleged in the trademark infringement lawsuit.
“This use and promotion is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake and/or to deceive the consuming public,” the attorneys alleged.
The coffee shop owners see things differently.
“This couldn’t be further from the truth,” they wrote in a Facebook post.
“It’s always been our hope to provide high quality and unique coffee beverages and baked goods, as well as to create a comfortable and welcoming space for you and your families to enjoy,” they wrote.
“It is hard to think that someone would actually be confused between a world-renowned outdoor play space and a small local coffee shop located an hour and a half apart.”
The lawsuit against Bayly Coffee LLC was filed Friday in federal court in Oklahoma City.
The park seeks a permanent injunction against use of the name. It also seeks the coffee shop’s profits, triple compensatory damages and punitive damages.
Supporters of the coffee shop are sounding off on social media. More than 7,000 have signed an online petition.
“What a stupid lawsuit,” one commented on Facebook. “CRAZY,” another wrote.
Millions have visited Gathering Place since it opened to the public alongside the Arkansas River in Tulsa in September 2018. This year, USA Today readers voted it the nation’s best city park.
Gathering Place is described in the lawsuit as a free “world-class park providing three levels of dining facilities including a coffee shop, recreational facilities, play areas for children, gardens, sports facilities, a water park, and conference, exhibition and meeting facilities.”
It cost $400 million to develop and covers 66 acres, according to the lawsuit. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in 2014.
The Gathering Place Coffee Co. opened in November 2017 in downtown Shawnee.
It is now owned by two couples, Rebecca and Jonathan Hilton and Jesse and Callie Ingram. They took over last year after getting financial assistance from the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corp.
The name dispute could be over soon. “I am happy to report that the parties are actively engaged in fruitful settlement negotiations and we remain hopeful that an amicable solution will be reached in the near future,” the shop’s attorney, Joe Vorndran, said Tuesday.