Famously unhappy feline Grumpy Cat wins $710,000 by suing a beverage company

(Image credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Grumpy Cat's owner has been awarded $710,000 in a lawsuit over the rights to the famously grouchy feline's pouty mug, BBC News reports.

Grumpy Cat is one of the most famous online cat memes (see also: Limecat, I Can Has Cheezburger) and the Grumpy Cat Limited company reportedly made upwards of a million dollars in its first few years in operation. Seeing an opportunity to surf the Grumpy Cat wave, the Grenade beverage company reached a $150,000 deal in 2013 with Grumpy Cat's human representative, owner Tabatha Bundesen, to sell "Grumppuccino" iced coffee.

#Christmas #NO #GrumpyCat #WorstChristmasEverA post shared by Grumpy Cat (@realgrumpycat) on Dec 24, 2017 at 11:45pm PST

Everything was fine until 2015, when Grenade released Grumpy Cat Roasted Coffee, which was not part of the original deal, The Washington Post reports. Grumpy Cat Limited sued, and additionally alleged that Grenade crossed the line with the sale of other Grumpy Cat-related products. Grenade then countersued, claiming Grumpy Cat didn't star in a movie with Will Ferrell and Jack Black, as Grumpy Cat Limited had assured she would.

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The eight-person jury in Santa Ana, California, ultimately sided with Grumpy Cat. After all, how could anyone resist that face?

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.