<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/26/sydney-woman-who-sold-a-cartoon-cat-t-shirt-told-to-pay-us100000-in-grumpy-cat-copyright-case>
"Alda Curtis, a 63-year-old counselling student from Sydney, set up a Redbubble
store as a hobby, including selling a T-shirt featuring an unhappy cat cartoon.
After years of running the store, a single sale of that T-shirt resulted in a
US$100,000 default judgment against her for infringing on the trademark of
Grumpy Cat late last year. Then Curtis noticed nearly US$600 had been taken
from her PayPal account.
Grumpy Cat, also known as Tardar Sauce, shot to internet fame in 2012 due to
her permanently grumpy facial expressions that were caused by a permanent
underbite and feline dwarfism.
The American domestic cat became a symbol for everyone on the internet who felt
disgruntled about life, with millions of followers on social media, memes,
merchandise including clothing and soft toys, and even a fragrance.
At the peak of the cat’s fame in 2014, the film
Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas
Ever was released. It starred the grumpy cat herself, voiced by Aubrey Plaza.
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an aggregate score of 27%.
The world of internet stardom moves on quickly, however, and Grumpy Cat’s fame
has dimmed since Tardar Sauce died in 2019, aged 7.
But the ghost of the frowny feline still haunts anyone trying to sell a product
that could be confused with the real Grumpy Cat. The owner of the Grumpy Cat
trademark is ever vigilant for unauthorised products sold online.
Last year, Grumpy Cat Ltd filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against more
than 200 online sellers in a US court. They sought damages for products sold on
sites such as RedBubble that allegedly infringed on the trademark.
In September last year, the court ruled a default judgment in favour of Grumpy
Cat Ltd. The company was awarded damages of US$100,000 per defendant.
If the payments were made in full, the company would win more than US$24m.
The sellers have also been restrained from continuing to sell the products
identified, forcing the removal from the online stores.
Curtis set up a Redbubble store as a hobby while studying counselling in the
northern suburbs of Sydney, Australia. She first became aware of the Grumpy Cat
Ltd case against her two weeks after the default judgment in Ohio."
It is very sad that US IP law allows this kind of abuse, besmirching the memory
of poor Tardar Sauce.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
