'Grumpy Cat' wins $700,000 in identity lawsuit

The owner of the cat sued the owners of coffee company Grenade for exceeding a legal agreement over the use of her pet's image.

Grumpy Cat posing for a photo in Los Angeles. Grumpy Cat is joining the cast of the Broadway musical “Cats” on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
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Grumpy Cat posing for a photo in Los Angeles. Grumpy Cat is joining the cast of the Broadway musical “Cats” on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016

It still won't make her smile, but Grumpy Cat has won some scratch.

A California jury gave the furry frown queen more than $700,000 this week in a federal lawsuit over the use of her identity.

According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, owner Tabatha Bundesen of Morristown, Arizona, won the lawsuit first filed three years ago against the Grenade beverage company.

She signed on for the cat to endorse a "Grumpy Cat Grumpuccino," but the company subsequently used the cat's image to help sell other products, which an eight-person jury on Monday found was unauthorised.

Grumpy Cat, whose dwarfism and underbite give her the permanent frown she's famous for, became an online phenomenon-turned-merchandising-machine after Bundesen first posted pictures of her in 2012.

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