A Dearborn animal shelter raising money for homeless dogs and cats has been forced to rename its upcoming Pawchella fundraiser after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the company behind Coachella.
Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit said it will change the name of the June 13 event, which is still scheduled to take place from noon to 8 p.m. at the MaryAnn Wright Animal Adoption and Education Center, 16121 Reckinger Rd. in Dearborn.
The shelter said it was unaware that Chella was trademarked by the owners of Coachella, the massive annual music and arts festival held in the Southern California desert city of Indio.
Trademark Dispute Targets Nonprofit Event
For Coachella, the issue was brand protection. For the shelter, it was a playful name for a fundraiser with food, music, raffles, and rescue animals.
We had no idea of the trademark and never had any intention of infringing on it, Cory Keller, president and CEO of Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit, tells Metro Times.
As soon as we became aware of the issue, we made the decision to change the event name immediately, even with only a month left before the event. Our goal has always been simple to create a fun, community-centered event that brings people and their pets together while helping raise awareness and critical support for the more than 2,500 homeless animals we care for each year.
The trademark dispute is just the latest example of Coachellas yearslong, aggressive effort to police the use of chella, a suffix the festival owners have targeted in lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters across the country.
Event Still Proceeds Under New Name
The event, formerly called Pawchella, is the shelters third annual animal, arts, and community festival. Presented by Ford Motor Co., the fundraiser is intended to support the nearly 2,500 animals that come through the Dearborn shelter doors each year.
The festival will feature performances by eight local bands, including Dearborns Sunglasses After Dark, along with more than 70 vendors, food, a bar, a beer garden, a cornhole tournament, dock diving for dogs, a Wag Zone for dogs and their owners, and a kids zone with demonstrations, face painting and a Best in Show contest for children 12 and younger and their pets.
The shelter also plans to hold a cash raffle sponsored by Premier Pet Supply, with six chances to win either a 500 Premier Pet Supply gift card or a 2,500 grand prize. The drawing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Raffle tickets cost 5 and are available at all 14 Premier Pet Supply stores. A raffle ticket stub also serves as admission to the event.
Basic admission is 5 at the gate. Dogs and children younger than 12 get in free. Proceeds will go to Friends for Animals general operations fund, which pays for medical care, food and other services for animals awaiting adoption.
Coachella Aggressively Polices Trademark
The cease-and-desist letter to the Dearborn shelter is far from the first time Coachellas owners have gone after groups using chella in an event name.
Goldenvoice has aggressively protected the Coachella brand for years, targeting names such as Hoodchella, Filmchella, Wholechella, Combschella, Carchella, Moechella, Afrochella, Floatchella, Bookchella, Cowchella and Barkchella.
In court filings, Coachellas owners have said they extensively police unauthorized use of the Coachella Marks and have sent countless cease and desist letters to protect the brand.
Some of the disputes involved music festivals or commercial events. Others targeted smaller community or nonprofit events.
Last year, the organizers of Barkchella, a dog-centered event in Newark, N.J., also received a cease-and-desist letter from Coachellas lawyers and agreed to rebrand. In Minneapolis, a literary nonprofit that advocates for writers with intellectual and developmental disabilities was forced to rename Cowchella after receiving a similar letter. In Connecticut, the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce renamed Floatchella, a community event on the Mystic River, after a cease-and-desist letter from AEGs lawyers.
Neither Coachella nor Goldenvoice returned Metro Times calls for comment.
Friends for Animals said the event will still take place June 13, under a new name, and the public is encouraged to attend.