Lions Tigers & Bears has filed a lawsuit against The Children’s Nature Retreat Foundation, now operating under the DBA (Doing Business As) San Diego Animal Sanctuary & Farm for infringement of LTB’s federally registered service mark The San Diego Animal Sanctuary for unfair competition and false designation of origin, and for substantial and related claims of unfair competition under the statuary and common laws of the State of California, all arising from Children’s Nature Retreat Foundation’s unauthorized use of the mark in connection with the marketing, promotion, offering for sale of its zoo services, according to court documents.
Lions Tigers & Bears is demanding a trial by jury on all issues.
According to court documents, Lions Tigers & Bears is a nonprofit corporation that is incorporated in California in Alpine, established in 2002 by founder and director Bobbi Brinks. Lions Tigers & Bears is an animal rescue, sanctuary, and educational facility and is accredited by both the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the American Sanctuary Association. It is home to more than 60 rescued animals and 19 species, including lions, tigers, American and Himalayan black bears, grizzly bears, bobcats, mountain lions, leopards, and more. The sanctuary features an administrative and volunteer office, a feed room, a barn, pasture, state-of-the-art medical facility, expansive habitats, a venue area, Airbnb, and a gift shop.
Lions Tigers & Bears received its Service Mark from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for The San Diego Animal Sanctuary on March 5, 2024.
The San Diego Animal Sanctuary, also located in Alpine, is a nonprofit that is home to 29 species and 70 breeds of animals acquired from owners who could no longer care for them, according to the lawsuit.
It houses African animals, barnyard animals, big farm animals, birds, exotic animals, mini farm animals, and reptiles. It also has a biological garden, hydroponic system, compost, and vermicompost. Founded in 2015 by owner Anges Barrelet, the retreat opened in February 2017.
According to its website, it has rescued more than 200 animals in need of a home over the last eight years and established biological gardens and orchids to provide for the animals and the public, with a focus on connecting people and nature.
In a statement from Lions Tigers and Bears Executive Assistant and Event Coordinator Nicole Amaya via email, she said, “I am writing on behalf of Bobbi Brink. Lions Tigers and Bears adopted the tag line San Diego Animal Sanctuary a couple of years before the Children’s Nature Retreat chose to change its name to incorporate our tag line. We registered the tag line after Nature Retreat chose to misappropriate our tag line. We tried to work with Nature Retreat—for a long time—to resolve this amicably without litigation. We specifically explained to Nature Retreat we did not want to spend money that should be going to animal welfare on litigation – but they were not willing to discuss or even consider the simple solution of either going back to Children’s Nature Retreat or finding another name that did not copy our tag line. We filed the lawsuit as a last resort. We are still hopeful of a simple and amicable resolution, but at the same time cannot allow another entity offering nearly identical services to the public to simply take our trademark tag line.”
Barrelet questions how LTB can claim a trademark when it was not issued until March of last year.
“They filed April 27, 2023, and it was accepted and registered in 2024. We publicly asked our followers and guests to vote on the best name that represents the farm in December 2022 and San Diego Animal Sanctuary & Farm was chosen early January 2023. We then went to the DBA office to add the DBA to our organization. LTB never used the name until recently on their website only,” she said. “There is indeed another entity named San Diego Animal Sanctuary that was started in October 2022, and we found out about them after we had already changed all our marketing. We have a great relationship with them, they actually take care of dogs in San Diego County. The name is very descriptive, and our attorney said it was not a great name to trademark and LTB’s trademark is not strong because of it.”
Barrelet said its DBA was filed on Jan. 12, 2023, and approved on Jan. 13, and no issues or challenges were detected. She said her defense in keeping the current name as it was chosen by its followers and guests.
“It really describes who we are and what we do, and this is the primary reason we decided to change the name of the farm in the first place. The organization Children’s Nature Retreat Foundation has also a program in West Africa, taking care of 150 plus children from nursery age to high school and that name does not reflect what we are doing in San Diego. Lions Tigers and Bears is known as Lions Tigers and Bears and there is no confusion between the two entities. Since January 2023, we’ve invested in marketing and public relations and cannot afford to change the name for no valid reasons,” she said.
Barrelet said she filed the trademark San Diego Animal Sanctuary and Farm after receiving the first cease and desist letter of its name.
“I was afraid they would go after the whole name,” she said. “They allege they have the first use because on their website on April 12, 2020, they titled their donation page: ‘Give to Our San Diego Animal Sanctuary Your Way,’ This was not their name at the time nor is it now, it was just a description. Everybody knows them as Lions Tigers and Bears.”
The cease-and-desist letter was sent on April 16, by Attorney Michael J. Hoisington representing Lions Tigers & Bears, saying:
“LTB reports that San Diego Animal Sanctuary (SDAS) has embarked on a pattern of copying its marketing efforts, including recently adopting the phrase “San Diego Animal Sanctuary.” While imitation has been called “the sincerest form of flattery,” SDAS has gone too far adopting this phrase as its brand. LTB owns all U.S. rights to its sanctuary trademark. As SDAS well knows, LTB enjoys a stellar reputation not only in Southern California, but nationwide. While SDAS is free to use the phrases “San Diego” and “animal sanctuary” in a descriptive sense to describe its services, it may not use the phrase “San Diego Animal Sanctuary” to brand SDAS services to the public.”
Barrelet said it does not have the budget or the manpower for this lawsuit.
“Our operating budget is roughly $750,000 while in 2023 LTB reported an annual budget of $5.7 million. Our limited resources shouldn’t have to be used to defend a trademark infringement lawsuit. We have 200 plus animals to care for and a very small team of dedicated workers. It is heartbreaking to us that we are in this situation. It is such a waste of time, energy and money that should go the animals instead,” she said.
