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, one of the world’s most famous music festivals.
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. The festival, launched in 1999, draws some of the biggest names in music and pop culture and is owned by Goldenvoice, an AEG Presents company tied to billionaire Philip Anschutz.
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. Events like this are truly a lifeline for our shelter, allowing us to provide the vital care, medical treatment, and services these animals deserve. We hope the community will continue to come out, have fun, and support our mission to help all these homeless animals in need.”
The trademark dispute is just the latest example of Coachella’s yearslong, aggressive effort to police the use of “chella,” a suffix the festival’s owners have targeted in lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters across the country.
The event, formerly called Pawchella, is the shelter’s 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’s doors each year.
The festival will feature performances by eight local bands, including Dearborn’s 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.
The shelter, a nonprofit founded in 1996, is dedicated to rescuing, protecting and finding homes for companion animals in need.
The cease-and-desist letter to the Dearborn shelter is far from the first time Coachella’s 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, Coachella’s 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 Coachella’s 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 AEG’s lawyers.
Coachella’s owners have also sued over Carchella, a car show promoted by DJ Envy that had planned a Detroit event in 2021; Moechella, a Washington, D.C., go-go music event rooted in protests over the loss of Black culture in the city; Afrochella, a Ghanaian music festival; and Filmchella, a film festival in Joshua Tree, Calif.
In another case, a Palm Desert Whole Foods changed the name of a concert and tasting event from Wholechella to the Pre-Fest Beer Garden after hearing from festival lawyers. Sean “Diddy” Combs also changed the name of a party from Combschella to Combs Fest.
Companies often police their trademarks to avoid losing control of them, especially when a brand becomes widely recognized. Coachella has federal trademark registrations for both “Coachella” and “Chella,” including for entertainment events.
The latest dispute shows that even a nonprofit Dearborn shelter fundraiser for dogs and cats isn’t immune from Coachella’s trademark policing.
Neither Coachella nor Goldenvoice returned Metro Times’s 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.
