After we asked for clarification this morning, Oatmeal Studios has released a brief statement regarding their lawsuit against The Oatmeal and a chain of card and gift shops, Recycled Greetings, that published his cards. You can read a bit more about the lawsuit here.
The statement is brief and describes simply the size and reach of the small “mom and pop” shop.
We are a small New England Greeting Card company, founded 35 years ago in Vermont by a woman who loved to design cards and her husband. Oatmeal was the name of their pet rabbit. Over the years they steadily built the business through hard work, and today we have over 2100 outlets nationally, including many small local stores as well as bigger chains.The Greeting Card industry is very competitive. We were alarmed to hear recently that one competitor, a large greeting card and gift company (and part of one of the world’s largest publicly traded Greeting Card companies), announced the introduction of a new line of cards, “The Oatmeal”, to be sold nationally to many of the same customers we serve. They clearly have infringed on the rights that our original founders worked so hard to create decades ago. So, we sent a cease and desist letter and filed a complaint to address this issue. This large company has known about Oatmeal Studios® and competed against us for years, and we are simply trying to protect our name and defend our rights.
Clearly this is more about Oatmeal Studios going against Papyrus, parent company of Recycled Greetings, and not an attack on The Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman. Bearsex, sadly, may not be in order.