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Grumpy Cat snatches lump of cash in California court

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Grumpy Cat poses for photos with her owner, Tabatha Bundesen, in New York. According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, Bundesen won a lawsuit first filed three years ago against the Grenade beverage company.

SANTA ANA, Calif. >> 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 unauthorized.

Grumpy Cat, whose dwarfism gives 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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