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The popular contemporary western series “Yellowstone” has been a tremendous success. It has already spawned two prequel series, and creator Taylor Sheridan also created the recent Sylvester Stallone series, “Tulsa King,” as well as “Special Ops” and the ongoing “Mayor Of Kingstown.” The prolific writer-creator is also an involved rancher with varied business interests in Texas.
One of those new ventures saw Sheridan recently filing a lawsuit against one of his own actors. On “Yellowstone,” one of the breakout characters has been the assertive cowboy Rip Wheeler, played by actor Cole Hauser–and these two figures had a legal conflict – over coffee.
Sheridan’s company Bosque Ranch Headquarters filed suit in San Angelo, Texas, against Free Rein Coffee Company, over trademark infringement claims and unfair trade. Hauser is a partner in Free Rein, raising eyebrows with fans of the series about the conflict emerging between the series creator and one of his stars. The timelines of the companies’ involvement in the caffeine trade are rather interesting.
The claim is that Free Rein’s secondary logo, employing the letters “F” and “R” in a shape resembling a cattle brand, is close to Bosque Ranch using a similar design for its initials. Sheridan’s company has been in operation since 2004, with its logo registered in 2020. However, this recent suit appeared as a result of both men deepening their involvement in coffee ventures this year.
Bosque Ranch launched its coffee line this summer, in partnership with long-established roasters Community Coffee. Cole Hauser, meanwhile, was part of a group of investors in another Texas company in 2022, Longhorn Coffee. This October, the company announced it was rebranding to Free Rein. Sheridan filed his patent request for Bosque Brand Coffee on November 16, and the company filed the trademark infringement suit on the 21st.
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The Yellowstone coffee fight appears to have been settled.
The copyright suit brought by Taylor Sheridan against Cole Hauser’s Free Reign has been pulled. pic.twitter.com/WSsXQvFQFR— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) December 23, 2023
But now, the suit has been vanquished entirely. Suddenly, less than a month after the initial filing, Sheridan and his legal team has asked to have the case dismissed.
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Plaintiff, BOSQUE RANCH HEADQUARTERS, LLC, hereby gives notice of its voluntary dismissal of its claims against Defendants, CODE OF THE WEST, LLC and FREE REIN LLC, doing business as FREE REIN COFFEE COMPANY.
Neither side in this case commented following the judgment announcement of the dismissal, and both sides are incurring their own legal costs. It is suspected that a settlement had been reached, but there is another consideration – how likely is it that the series creator and his star came together and agreed to this legal proceeding to generate publicity for each of their brands?
Sheridan, after all, has built his career on crafting plots around business professionals who create complex plots for their own interests.
