Why is ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan suing Cole Hauser?

Yellowstone duo Taylor Sheridan and Cole Hauser are set to go head-to-head in court with the former’s business brand suing the latter’s recently-founded coffee company.

Sheridan, the creator, writer, director and producer of the Neo-Western drama, which has been on screen since 2018, has also appeared in nine episodes as Travis Wheatley, a horse trader. Hauser, meanwhile, has a main role alongside Kevin Costner as ranch foreman Rip Wheeler.

Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch takes Hauser’s Free Rein to court

The two may have teamed up on a successful TV show but there will soon be a legal showdown between the pair after Bosque Ranch, the brand which runs several of Sheridan’s businesses, filed a lawsuit against Hauser’s Free Rein company on 21 November.

Back in June, Bosque Ranch, as part of a collaboration with Community Coffee, formed Bosque Ranch Craft Coffee, a business very much in the Yellowstone image which “reflected the cowboy way of life.”

“Strikingly similar” brand marks

However, when Free Rein, owned by Hauser, launched in October, it deployed “a brand mark strikingly similar to Bosque Ranch’s registered trademark, potentially misleading consumers,” as stated in court documents filed by Sheridan and Co, obtained by Fox Business.

“Born from the cowboy tradition” is Free Rein’s main slogan, while both brands’ logos are formed by two overlapping letters one on top of the other.

The documents state Bosque Ranch is seeking a trial by jury with the goal of ensuring Free Rein destroy all products, marketing and promotional material that have their current brand mark on it, as well as prohibiting them from using it in the future.

The files also say Bosque Ranch are seeking “compensatory damages associated with Defendants’ past use and infringement of the Bosque Ranch Brand”.