Client Spotlight - The Forge Coffee

Once a marketing director for a financial planning firm, Amanda Cleveland was exhausted from the corporate world. Although she enjoyed her job, she aimed to create a business that fostered a community. Cleveland loves to connect with people and be an active part of her community and found herself tired of sitting in front of a computer all day long. So when the opportunity came along to start a coffee shop, Cleveland jumped at the chance to see where it could go.

In May of 2023, Cleveland opened what is now known as The Forge Coffee. The Forge Coffee is an organic coffee shop located in Dufur, Oregon, about fifteen miles south of the Dalles, between Bend and the Columbia River. The Forge Coffee is best known for their mysterious coffee creations based off of notorious cryptids (animals whose existence are debated but are rumored to roam in the untamed wilderness). One example of these delicious drinks includes the Blue Nessie, a white chocolate & vanilla Butterfly Tea with floating shots, topped with whipped cream and maple sugar inspired by the notorious Loch Ness monster rumored to reside in Lake (Loch) Ness in Scotland. Besides their cryptid inspired drinks, The Forge Coffee also creates tasty and more traditional coffees such as their Tiramisu Latte. They also provide pastries made from scratch including their homemade english muffins used for breakfast sandwiches. The Forge Coffee aims to keep their products locally sourced and natural for a more nutritious twist to their appetizing menu.

As The Forge Coffee progressed in popularity, Cleveland looked to file a trademark, a word, phrase, or design used to distinguish the goods and services of one party from another. Cleveland attempted to file the trademark herself, yet found herself stuck when it got rejected for being in a similarity conflict with another trademark. Cleveland then decided to turn to the SBLC for help in creating and filing a trademark for her company. She was able to be assisted through our Pro Bono Project, where clients are matched with an attorney according to the attorney’s area of expertise. Due to the location of The Forge Coffee, Cleveland was also able to be assisted as a rural client. From there, Cleveland was able to meet with one of our attorneys. When meeting, she was able to get a better understanding of what a trademark is, how the process of filing a trademark works, what the mark (actual symbol or name being trademarked) needed to be, and
the grounds for the mark so as there would be no conflict of similarity again. Although her trademark is still in the process of being approved, Cleveland is looking forward to the boost the trademark may give The Forge Coffee brand. Cleveland says, “I’m excited because I feel like [the trademark will] just give us a little bit more credibility in the market … this [business] we’re really proud of and really want to keep going in the future. We’re not here for the short-term, we really want to be here for the long-term and whatever that looks like. So [the trademark] kind of just helped us feel more secure in our business”.

As for the future of The Forge Coffee, Cleveland hopes to expand to multiple locations and further develop the shop’s mobile unit to reach new customers. Here at the SBLC, we look forward to seeing and supporting the further growth and success of The Forge Coffee.