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Businesses gather together to peacefully resolve trademark dispute

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coffee

When the founders of the quaint Gathering Place Coffee Co. in Shawnee, Oklahoma, named their place, they reportedly wanted it to reflect what it was: a place for people to gather.

It wasn’t, as alleged in a lawsuit filed Sept. 24, an effort to use the trademarked name and appeal of a sprawling 66.5 acre, $400 million recreational park of the same name located along the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to the Tulsa World newspaper.

But that’s what The Gathering Place LLC claimed, saying the coffee shop “advertises event spaces, coffee shop services and other services that are clearly intended to evoke the services offered by The Gathering Place,” as the lawsuit states.

The good news is the dispute has been settled, according to the newspaper, which reported that The Gathering Place and the Shawnee coffee shop came to a peaceful agreement, announced Monday, that is evocative of the name they were fighting over. 

The small business will continue operating with its existing name through a licensing agreement with the park.