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A Tulsa park is challenging a Shawnee coffee shop over who has the right to the term "gathering place."
Tulsa's Gathering Place LLC claims that The Gathering Place Coffee Co.'s name is confusing to customers, despite both locations being 100 miles apart.
"The Gathering Place Coffee Company in Shawnee is taking advantage of the park's fame for its own profit, by using the same name," the trademark infringement lawsuit alleges.
The owners of the coffee shop say that they didn't mean any harm with their business's name.
"The Gathering Place Park in Tulsa filed a lawsuit claiming we were intentionally trying to profit from their trademark. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We, the Hilton’s and Ingram’s, love our community and our town so deeply. 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," the owners wrote in a Facebook post.
The park is now demanding that the coffee shop change its name and pay the park for legal fees and other damages.
A name change is possible, but the coffee shop owners say it will be an expensive change for a small business.
“What they’ve asked for us to repay to them for using the Gathering Place name is everything we could have. You know they would take everything from us if they won this lawsuit," co-owner Jesse Ingram told News6.